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East African Countries urged to harmonize their Judicial Systems
By
Sukhdev Chhatbar
-
Barnabas Samatta, Tanzanian Chief Justice, has urged the
- three
East African Community members Kenya, Uganda and
- Tanzania
to harmonize their administration of justice because
- they
share a common legal heritage. The EA countries were
- once
British colonies.
-
-
Addressing members of the executive council of the East African
-
Magistrates and Judges Association (EAMJA) in Arusha on
-
Saturday, Samatta stated: "It is not unrealistic to expect that one
- day the
co-operation in the judicial sphere in our region will be
- as
strong as it was before the collapse of the EAC in 1977."
- Samatta
said EA countries have several areas of common in law,
- in
which they could exchange information, ideas and experience.
- He
stated that the "fundamental pillars on which the national
-
constitutions in the region rest are similar and share a common
- legal
heritage.''
-
- "The
foundation on which the East African co-operation can
- stand
is now in place," Samatta told the meeting, adding that all
- that
remains is for an East African judicial system to be realized.
-
Presidents Daniel arap Moi of Kenya, Yoweri Museveni of
- Uganda
and Benjamin of Mkapa formally signed a Treaty re-
-
establishing the EAC in Arusha in January 2000.
-
- The
people of East Africa, Samatta said, are looking to the
-
judiciaries for the protection against denial or abridgement of
- their
rights and freedoms. "It is not an easy task, but it is one
- which
those constitutional bodies must discharge if the basic
- rights
and freedom are to be protected."
-
- "When a
constitution lays down clear principles on human rights
- and
freedoms, judges should be bold enough to uphold those
-
values," he counseled.
-
- Samatta
encouraged the exchange of judgments and legal rulings
- between
the EA judiciaries.
-
- Judge
Josephat Mackanja, President of the Magistrates and
- Judges
Association of Tanzania, said East Africans are entitled
- to the
delivery of fast and untainted justice. "The people we
- serve
look to our courts for justice. They count on the fairness of
- our
courts; they deserve the best justice we are required to
- deliver
to them," he said in his opening remarks.
-
- The
original EAC collapsed in 1977 mainly because of political
- and
economic differences between the member states.
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