He noted that inadequate funding for daily operations, inadequate support services, lack of adequate transportation for staff, and mobility constraints for judicial officers all continue to beset the Judiciary.
"These affect the efficiency of the courts. Some of these challenges are of course compounded by occasional lack of due diligence by some counsel and some judicial officers, leading to unnecessary delays and, in some cases, to miscarriages of justice," he acknowledged.
He indicated that the suspension of funding by some donors has adversely impacted the expansion of the Computer Aided Recording and Transcription System (CATS) and the electronic case management system within the Judiciary.
CJ Jallow explained that the suspension has disrupted the implementation of key reform initiatives and infrastructure development efforts. As a result, several planned activities have been delayed or curtailed. "We are very pleased that the UNDP and the EU GREAT project are agreeable to picking up some of these projects. We look forward to working with them".
"The legal year 2026 should be a period for us to focus ever more on the core judicial mandate" he said. He added that this will require greater diligence by all judicial officers and their support staff as well as by legal practitioners, other stakeholders and all persons in contact with the judicial process.
He emphasised that the extension of the Judiciary Strategic plan should be an opportunity to implement the remaining activities which have been identified for priority action.
He stated that the provision of additional court rooms for the courts to operate fully with greater access to justice for the public; the consolidation and extension of the specialised courts; the promulgation of the new High Court Rules and training of the stakeholders on their implementation.
He mentioned the review and replacement of the Subordinate Court Rules; the improvement of the Regulatory framework with the adoption of JSC Regulations, the schemes of service, staff code of conduct and a staff and judicial officers performance evaluation and assessment system.
According to him, there is the need for the adoption of a new and more efficient mechanism for the adjudication of land disputes; the enhancement of our capacity for staff development with the enactment of the new JTI legislation, training for staff and the recruitment of additional local judicial officers at all levels of the court hierarchy.
"We look forward as well to rolling out the courts computer aided transcription system which is proving to be fantastic, to all the other courts, the implementation of the electronic case management system and progress in the digitisation of court processes and court records," he noted.
He said the tragic incident at the end of last year of the burning down of the Farafenni Magistrates Court which resulted in the loss of all court records and equipment is a very painful reminder of the danger of reliance on paper records and the need for digital back up of the court archives and records. It is equally a reminder of the responsibility of state security agencies to protect state structures and resources, including all court premises country wide.
