Times Of Swaziland: ‘CONTINUAL HEARING OF CASES DURING COVID-19 OUTBREAK RECKLESS’

‘CONTINUAL HEARING OF CASES DURING COVID-19 OUTBREAK RECKLESS’
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By Mbongiseni Ndzimandze on 18/04/2020 07:29:00


MBABANE – Vice president of the Law Society of Swaziland (LSS), Lucky Howe,
has described the decision to continue hearing cases at the High Court during
the outbreak of the COVID-19 as total recklessness.
In an email he sent to all lawyers, Howe stated that: “The government has made
it clear that we are not essential and we should not be going to court. I asked
the judge today why are we being called to court after the government has
advised us to stay home. Do we need to see someone die before we follow
instructions, please tell me.”
A number of lawyers interviewed yesterday concurred with Howe, who said what was
happening at the High Court was putting their lives and those of their families
at risk.
“The situation is bad, so we all need to take the precautionary measures as
advised by government and the health experts.  What exacerbates the situation is
that at the High Court there is little or no precautionary measures that are in
place for the containment of the spread of the virus,” said a senior lawyer
who preferred anonymity.
reminding
Meanwhile, Chief Justice (CJ) Bheki Maphalala recently issued a memo to all
judges reminding them to report to work during this period.  The directive was
also extended to all members of staff. “You are reminded to report to work
timesouly and execute your duties accordingly. You are further advised to
observe the necessary precautions in the practice directive,” reads part of
the directive.
According to the practice directive, only judicial officers who were lawfully on
leave would be excused from reporting to work. In a previous statement issued by
the LSS, Howe urged lawyers to close their offices in light of the statement
that had been issued by government on the COVID-19 pandemic.
He said at the end of the day, the government was the ultimate authority and
once it had spoken in this fashion, all of their rights were diminished to a
great extent including the authority of the chief justice. He said the chief
justice should understand that his powers had now been reduced immensely because
of the situation.
comply
Howe went on to ask lawyers to comply with the decision of the government as
they were not an essential service.
“From our point of view, we are advising and reminding our members of the
instruction from the government. The authorities have spoken and we have to
follow that as the membership,” said Howe.
He further warned members of the public not to be surprised when they find that
their legal representatives had closed offices and that they were not present in
court to represent them.
contact
The vice president urged litigants to contact their lawyers through emails or
any other forms of communication until the situation has normalised.
“The executive of  the Law Society of Swaziland is calling upon all its
members and legal practitioners during this period of the worldwide COVID- 19
pandemic to limit their social and human ‘footprint’ and accordingly
implement social distancing measures which include closure of their offices
during this period, unless extremely necessary or where rights of persons have
been infringed whereupon access to the courts is justified to defer all other
ordinary matters to another date,” reads part of the statement issued by the
LSS vice president.
The law society further called upon the chief justice, judges of the Supreme
Court and the High Court, magistrates and court personnel to join hands with
them (legal fraternity) and the nation to contain the spread of COVID-19, which
might include the cessation of all trial proceedings, motion proceedings save
for urgent or exceptional circumstances where the rights of persons had been
infringed upon and to maintain a minimum skeletal staff for such purpose.
“Likewise, all lawyers are encouraged to scale down their legal practices to a
bare minimum, to work from home, file pleadings electronically and where
possible postpone all ordinary matters, “ said Howe.