Law Society indaba could seal fate of top judges
MASERU — Members of the Law Society of Lesotho will meet on Monday to consider a proposal to call for the resignation of Chief Justice Mahapela Lehohla and Court of Appeal President Justice Michael Ramodibedi.
The urgent meeting comes in the wake of the abrupt cancellation of the January session of the Court of Appeal which was scheduled to start on Monday.
This was after the Chief Justice refused to release some High Court judges to hear cases in the apex court.
Justice Ramodibedi had requested High Court judges to hear cases in the session that was supposed to start on January 21 because his Court of Appeal judges are currently on holiday.
All five Court of Appeal judges, who are South Africans, had said they would not be available for the session.
Meanwhile the Law Society of Lesotho has asked Prime Minister Tom Thabane to advise the King to set
up a commission of inquiry into what it called a “constitutional crisis” in the judiciary.
The letter written yesterday said the commission should consist of people who are “adequately” trained in the field of law and administration.
“A judge or two are the required constituents of the said commission,” the society said.
It said the commission’s report must be tabled in parliament because governments tend to overlooks recommendations which “do not blend with their political views and their policy”.
The situation has been left hanging for “an ordinate period of time and these measures must be undertaken in earnest.”
The society said the cancellation of the Court of Appeal session is merely a symptom of the many problems that have been affecting the judiciary for years.
Comment by mamoqato on 24 January 2013:
Law society, how powerful can u really be?
Comment by mzini on 24 January 2013:
The law society has no powers to seal a judges fate. Caswell doesnt know what hes yapping about
Comment by Lefefooane on 24 January 2013:
God bless our so-called journalists. Law society cannot seal the fate of judges. The judges are appointed by the JSC and not the law society. Chehe naha ena eona ena le mathata. Re thiba ka nqena re thiba ka nqane. Can’t these peopkle learn to read? Nxa!!!
Comment by Aunty P on 24 January 2013:
The other that worries me is the fact that ntate Ramolinedi actually asked for assistance from the CJ! As mauch as the refusal of the CJ is not supported with reasons, it would have been highly abnormal for High Court Judges to preside on appeal cases that directly comes from their own courts!!! Talk about Common sense not being so COMMON!!!
Comment by Halakashaa on 24 January 2013:
Hoja Ramodibeli o ne a kopile bo-Mphato oa hae ho tloha Botswana le Swaziland from courts of similar level. Le eena o oa paeza! Ehlile mona Lehohla has taken a correct decision, leha a le controversial hakana
Comment by AtiAce on 24 January 2013:
Big ups to Chief Justice Lehohla! Mona hee Ramodibeli wanted Lehohla to fail; it was a trap!
Comment by Bobete on 24 January 2013:
khilik tsa koebana lipoho ka sakeng. tlou tse peli ha li loana ho utloang bohloko ke joang, chaba se tsietsing bahlomphehi.
Comment by Tlhase on 24 January 2013:
Joale ha CJ a hana ka li-Judge ho soetsa Ramodibeli, ho suffera Basotho. Eleng hore hantle o soetsa Basotho.Justice delayed is Justice denied!
Comment by spantu on 24 January 2013:
It doesnt make sense at all to me,how can the president of the apeal court ask cj to let judges of the high court to preside over the cases which have been handled/officiated/presided by the same judges or judges of similar level?I am appealing all the legal experts to help us here
Comment by molomo mosehlanyana on 24 January 2013:
‘na bashana baheso ke rata motho ea bitsang kharafu kharafu asa potoloheng,kajeno okae Mohafa haeka ngoana motho ha ane apepesa bobolu kahara naha ea rona libolu line li mohalefela hakale? Kajeno le phatlalatsa hore mokhatlo oa li akhente hao tsebe tsamaiso kapa haona chebelo pele eka nenang bo bolu lentsetso pele ea naha kabong ea toka? Nkila’na ka khothaletsa hore mahlanya a isoa mohlomi kahona liakhente tsena hali isoe mohlomi hoea ka lona batsebang molao le tsamaiso ea makhotla,’na ke thoholetsa liphetoho le litholoana tsatsona kaho khetholoha basatsabeng ho hlaola liphoso le litloelo tsempe.
Comment by kido on 27 January 2013:
Na moqolotsi oa litaba aka re fumanela na boemo ke bofe koa Swaziland ka likamano tsa Chief Justice le President of the Appeal Court? Ke bona eka re hloka ho bapisa litaba tsena mohlomong re utloe na liconstitution tsa naha tse ling le reng.
Comment by kereke on 28 January 2013:
malume Basotho. Ha le sa bale ha le no rua tsebo. Mokhatlo oa liakhente ha o na matla le e seng feela a ho tlosa two senior judges. The only way is through a commission of inquiry….duly appointed by the appropriate body. the said commission can only make recommedations and not expell one from position. to be true it would be difficult to expell any of the two senior judges. the only way is to let them resolve their issues and cooperate. issues can be solved with the right attitude, after all one of… made a recommendation of appointment of the other… so what is the problem? guys solve these issues before ba ratang hore ba-tlohe lipositioning ba kenye metsoalle ea bona ba eba le monyatla ooo.
Comment by Bohlale on 6 February 2013:
Hhahahahahaaa…Law Society is still around? Lord Have Mercy…they cant do a simple thing of regulating the rotten bunch of lawyers and think they can take on the Judiciary? *sigh*…..