Fund to strengthen judicial independence in Africa launched

A fund to provide resources and related support for institutions and other bodies working to strengthen judicial independence has been launched in Accra.

The Africa Judicial Independence Fund (AJIF) aims to enable the judiciary on the continent to uphold the principle of fairness in the delivery of justice.

The initiative is a robust framework by Afrobarometer, a non-profit organisation, to ensure that the judiciary in Africa operates without undue influence, interference and intimidation.

Initiative

The Manager of the AJIF, Saeed Salahudeen, said the initiative marked a significant milestone in the collective effort to uphold and strengthen judicial independence in Africa. "As you may know, judicial independence is not merely an abstract principle, but rather it is the bedrock upon which the rule of law, democracy, human rights and constitutionalism stand," he said, adding that without an independent judiciary, the administration of justice was compromised, thereby threatening the fabric of society.

The launch of the fund, Mr Salahudeen said, was the beginning of a journey of transformation. Later, he said in close collaboration with Afrobarometer and the leadership board of the AJIF, a five-year operational plan would be rolled out.

"Apart from the five years, we seek to sustain the fund beyond that," he said.

Furthermore, Mr Salahudeen said, the fund would foster partnerships and collaborations with civil society organisations (CSOs) and other well-meaning bodies interested in supporting it.

He said the fund would be sustained if it was well resourced, adding that "after all, you cannot give what you do not have". In that regard, Mr Salahudeen said the fund had been working on a fundraising strategy.

Strategy

Presenting the outcome of research on judicial independence from 11 African countries, a lecturer of the Law School of the University of Professional Studies, Accra, Mavis Ekua Enyemah Kwainoe, who is a consultant to the project, proposed some recommendations to strengthen judicial independence based on the findings.

Among other things, she called for some institutional reforms to implement a transparent and merit-based appointment process. Mrs Kwainoe said there was a need for legislation that would guarantee the safety of the security of tenure of judges for both the lower bench and the superior court of judicature.

Moreover, she said the issue of funding had always been a major challenge for most judiciary across the continent as budgetary allocations were low to satisfy the needs of the judiciary.

She said there was the need to enhance the budgetary autonomy of the judiciary and that presently, in practice, there was nothing like that as most judicial systems on the continent relied on other organs such as the Executive for funding support.

Collaborate

Mrs Kwainoe explained the need to collaborate with CSOs to advocate judicial reforms, monitor problems, and adhere to some of the international standards and ethics they provided for judicial independence.

She called for regional collaboration since the various judicial institutions found in each country could not do it alone, hence the need for collaboration across jurisdictions to promote regional cooperation for the exchange of ideas, best practices and resources.

"Regional cooperation would lead to some collective measures taken by all members of these judiciaries across the various jurisdictions to strengthen their independence through regional protocols," she said.

She said there were so many beautiful laws in place that needed strengthening. Judicial integrity, she said, needed to be promoted. A former Chief Justice of Kenya, Justice Willy Mutunga, among other things, underscored the importance of judicial independence.