judicial independence

IN a sensational new case, Ghana’s highest judicial forum has been considering whether it was lawful for the country’s president to reverse contempt of court sentences. This, after three men were sent to prison for effectively inciting people listening to a radio show to kill judges if they did not like the outcome of a then-pending case. The whole matter, referred to as “Montie 3” after the radio station involved, has touched a raw nerve in Ghana: no one has forgotten the three high court judges who were executed in 1982 on orders of the then political establishment.

In Zimbabwe elections on 30 July were followed by violence in which soldiers opened fire on people protesting against what they claimed were “rigged” election results, killing at least six people.  During the months before the elections, however, many court applications tried to ensure broader democracy and a more transparent election process – almost all without success. Read here about the solitary exception in which a judge ordered the ruling party to stop misusing schools and school children for party rallies, only to be overturned on appeal.

JUST weeks after a top level judicial delegation visited Seychelles and offered help in resolving the conflict gripping the islands’ judiciary, there comes a significant new development: the constitutional court of Seychelles has dismissed the latest appeal of the suspended judge who is at the heart of the ongoing, tense situation.