Lawyers slam prosecutors mingling with magistrates at workshops

Several leading private lawyers have demanded that the Office of the Judiciary halt a series of training workshops for magistrates and state prosecutors on Chapter 5 of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act (POCA), saying magistrates should remain independent from any parties to court proceedings.

POCA primarily deals with money laundering criminal cases.

Some of the workshops have already taken place, with Windhoek and Keetmanshoop having had theirs this week, while Oshakati is set to conclude its today.

Rundu is set to have its training from 26 to 28 April.

Several legal practitioners have written letters to the Office of the Judiciary to raise serious concerns about organising training where magistrates – who are supposed to remain independent from all parties in criminal matters – are mingling with state prosecutors.

This, the lawyers argued, undermines the constitutional principle of an independent judiciary.

Among those aggrieved is Kadhila Amoomo, who cited in a complaint letter - addressed to the deputy executive director of the Office of the Judiciary - that legal practitioners have noticed a trend where the Office of the Prosecutor-General arranges training for prosecutors and magistrates on various issues.

“In the past, these issues ranged from matters relating to the Combatting of Rape Act as well as matters relating to poaching and other animal protection cases. It now seems that there is a bond between the Office of the Prosecutor-General and the Office of the Magistrate Commission. This means that the Office of the Prosecutor-General and the Office of the Magistrate Commission are holding each other’s hands in as far as the understanding of this issue is concerned,” a dismayed Amoomo said.

Unacceptable interference

Similarly, Gilroy Kasper of Murorua Kurtz Kasper Incorporated called upon the Office of the Judiciary to “intervene and put an immediate end to this abnormal and irregular training”.

“A cursory glean of the programme informs that - amongst other things - there is an attempt made to clarify the case of State v Henock,” he said.

“It is a serious threat to the unfettered and impartial mind magistrates are asked to bear when they embark on the duty to adjudicate over matters when the said training is presented to them together with those who have to prosecute before them. It is an unacceptable interference to shape the minds of magistrates,” he wrote.

The series of workshops set to train magistrates and public prosecutors is part of the prosecutor-general’s implementation of a plan for recommended actions set out in a mutual evaluation report, documents perused by Namibian Sun showed.

Unethical

Another defence counsel Ileni Gerbhardt called for an end to the training workshops and asked the Office of the Judiciary to give a written undertaking by noon yesterday that pending training would be called off.

“The Office of the Prosecutor-General is often the applicant and/or initiator of POCA and/or money laundering applications, many of which are ex parte in nature, therefore making them a party with a vested interest in these types of applications.

“It is inappropriate, unethical and a threat to the independence of the judiciary to allow presiding officers to receive training from one of the parties in applications that they will be required to preside over.”

In his own letter, lawyer Henry Shimutwikeni remarked: “With this training, magistrates are unconsciously taking instructions from the prosecutor-general on how to deal with matters that the prosecutor-general will bring before them”.