Lesotho's administration of justice draft bill: a remedy for the problems of delays in the courts or a Trojan horse?

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Periodical article

Title:	Lesotho's administration of justice draft bill: a remedy for the problems of delays in the courts or a Trojan horse?
Author:	Mahao, Nqosa Leuta
Year:	1998
Periodical:	Lesotho Law Journal: A Journal of Law and Development
Volume:	11
Issue:	2
Pages:	371-379
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Lesotho
Subjects:	legal reform administrative law
Abstract:	Lesotho's Law Reform Commission, which framed the Draft Judiciary Administration Bill, 1999, proceeded from the premise that the judiciary must take responsibility for the administration of justice. For the judiciary to do this, its independence must be enhanced. However, the Draft Bill is informed by a tenuous understanding of Lesotho's design of government as authored by the Constitution and the Law Reform Commission seems to have overlooked the fact that ultimately the administration of justice is a concurrent responsibility of the judiciary and the executive. Moreover, some clauses in the Draft Bill come close to violating the Constitution or are indeed overtly repugnant to its provisions. While action does need to be taken to restore public confidence in the courts and the legal profession in Lesotho, the independence in the management of resources that the judiciary is promised by the Draft Judiciary Administration Bill is a Trojan horse which masks a more serious attack on the independence of its discretionary powers. Notes, ref.