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Momodou
Denmark
11633 Posts |
 Posted - 14 Jan 2011 : 17:25:53
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Dailynews Editorial: Awakening The Sleeping Justice
Friday, January 14, 2011
The Gambia’s weak civil society, over the years, has been blamed for allowing the many human rights violations and infringement on constitutional provisions in The Gambia. More especially, is The Gambia Bar Association who continues to idly watch rights violations even under its own nose, even though it has all what it takes to put an end to it, as witnessed in other countries.
Surely, the public do not expect any individual legal practitioner or a group of them to be sacrificial lamb(s). However, it is agreed among legal practitioners that the lowest common denominator that binds legal practitioners across the world is standing up against injustice.
It could be recalled that the Bar Week observed by The Gambia Bar last year, which was the first time in its history to use as an opportune moment for them to put their house in order and devise means to confront the anomalies in the legal fraternity and by extension, The Gambia.
It was there that the Bar came up with a bold resolution to stand against any injustice henceforth. In showing commitment to its word, it established a human rights organ of the Bar.
Thus, arriving at a decision to boycott the court proceedings against what it described as the unwarranted arrest, detention and trial of Moses Richards. Worth commending!
According to the president of the Bar, both the Bar and Bench have a common interest in promoting the rule of law and a better working of the Court system, be it the Government, the Judiciary, the Bar, and the Bench.
He said they have competing interests, adding that they should all work for that common goal and that an action like this will not help. He said they should respect each other’s boundaries, commitments, responsibilities and obligations. He said they need to promote a better understanding, noting that misunderstanding does happen sometimes, but through dialogue and consultations they will find a way forward.
And while commending them, we hope they will extend their solidarity to other victims of rights abuses in The Gambia,
In fact, it is long overdue. For several years now, The Gambia legal system has been compromised. We have seen the undue dismissal of adjudicating officers – magistrates and Judges – without following the rights procedures.
This paper, like other independent newspapers in the country, has sounded the need for an independent judiciary and by extension, a vibrant legal sector that will see to the promotion of rule of law and execution of justice in a diligent manner.
It is an open secret that The Gambian populace have over the years been increasingly losing confidence in our justice system. This has been admitted by the chief justice himself.
And of course, it does not require one to study rocket science to figure out the reasons for this undesirable situation.
It is no gain saying that where there is rule of law, investors are encouraged to come into the country to invest without fear of being bullied by an unfair trial in case of any eventuality.
And this paper concur with the president of the Bar Association that as legal practitioners they should be accorded the leverage to ably represent their clients.
At least we hope this will serve as wakening call for the authorities concerned, that Gambian lawyers are no longer going to sit by and watch infringement of the rule of law.
While we applaud the bar association for showing a sign for standing firm on upholding the principles of legal procedures, we would like to note that this is long overdue.
Source: Dailynews
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A clear conscience fears no accusation - proverb from Sierra Leone |
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