JAMMEH NEVER GIVE JUDGES FREE HAND!!!

"Gambians should take their destiny into their own hands in every field of human endeavor, if we want to be really independent. The judiciary is no exception. Gambians must sacrifice if we have to usher in the new millennium," Chief Justice Savage advised.

He added that the help and support we receive from our development partners should complement and/or supplement our own initiatives.
"No doubt the invaluable assistance we have hitherto received from our colleagues from other commonwealth jurisdictions has in no small way helped in laying the foundation for an effective, efficient and modern justice delivery system. We shall still need their services in the foreseeable future. This situation, however, cannot continue ad infinitum. Following my appointment as Chief Justice of The Gambia the sky is the limit for other Gambians in the Judiciary. I call upon all Gambians to come on board as this is the most opportuned moment for us to render our services to our beloved country," he said.

The Chief Justice promised that they will be committed to the true and proper interpretation of the laws and the constitution to ensure the stability of democracy, improve their output and service delivery, accessibility, user friendliness and cost effectiveness, and very importantly, maintain high standards of efficiency at all levels through capacity building and man power development and training.
He continued that it is only through such training that they may be able to accomplish the reforms they intended, "to promote the rule of law, transparency accountability and anti-corruption; promote and uphold human rights of the vulnerable in society, ensure efficiency and speedy delivery of justice, strengthen the capacity of our human resources, Change the public perception of the judiciary and build public confidence in the service, improve our infrastructure capacity, and to enhance our service delivery."

The Chief Justice added that during his tenure as a judge, he had discerned that some of the problems facing the judiciary included problems with the management of court records, overburdened judges who are responsible during trials for recording trial testimony, inadequate equipment which impedes the ability of the court system to provide timely information to private practitioners and to manage the docket, deteriorating physical infrastructure which, inter alia, can lead to the postponement of trials, inefficiencies in the operation of the registrar's offices, the bailiffs and other lay court personnel's.

Delivering a welcome address, the Judicial Secretary, Mrs. Nguie Mboob Janneh, said the time has come when the knowledge, skills and abilities of the judges, magistrates and judicial officers have to be put together and utilized to address the bottlenecks and constraints of justice delivery in this country.
"The expertise and experience of judges, from the commonwealth and our sister neighboring countries and locally, must be employed during this historic moment of the judiciary," Mr. Mboob Janneh said.


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