Swaziland’s Chief Justice Stanley Sapire strongly criticised the country’s government on Monday in his speech opening the new session of the Swaziland High Court.
In an unprecedented attack, Sapire publicly condemned the government’s lack of respect for the independence of the judiciary, citing examples of government interference in the work of the country’s judges. Sapire said the government showed a lack of respect for the law and for the constitutional separation of powers of the executive and the judiciary.
Sapire’s tirade followed the recent resignation of all six judges of Swaziland’s Court of Appeal after Prime Minister Sibusiso Dlamini overruled one of their judgements.
The background to Dlamini’s move and the resignation of the judges was that Swaziland applies traditional law as well as Roman Dutch law, and that the two systems often clash. The government is inclined towards traditional law, while the courts often are not.
Media reports on the judicial crisis led to a visit to Swaziland last week by delegations from the International Bar Association and the International Commission of Jurists. The delegates will be making recommendations on ways to resolve the problems.
In his speech the chief justice said Swaziland was left with no court of appeal, as no reputable judge anywhere would accept appointment to a court whose judgments were defied by the government. He said the country’s appeal court could only be reconstituted once the government had resolved to act constitutionally. Government must return to a genuine spirit of constitutionalism, recognition of the rule of law and respect for the total independence of the courts.
Should this not happen, Swaziland could well find itself with no functioning judiciary at all. The situation at the beginning of the new year was sombre, said Sapire. – Sapa