Late remittances delay EACJ’s operations

EAST AFRICA: LATE remittance of contributions from East African partner states to the East African Court of Justice (EACJ) affect its operations, court official has said.

This was revealed on Tuesday by EACJ Deputy Registrar, Ms Christine Mutimura during a three-days regional media training for editors and journalists on judicial reporting in East African Community (EAC).

She said that the limited budget affects the court due to the fact that some of partner states in the regional delay to make their contributions on time as per financial obligation in the treaty “The court is faced by number of challenges including the limited budget which is worsened by late remittances from member states,” she said.

She also noted that the EACJ is currently facing another challenge of lack of permanent judges, adding: “They come on quarterly seasons. They cannot handle on time cases, because there many to be handle.” Other challenges raised during the training were, court visibility, outdated court management system, and implementation mechanism of decisions to make one accountable.

On his part, Dr Henry Onoria Consultant at ALP East Africa said the media plays a crucial role by informing the public about the duties of the judicial system.

“Court reporters need to comply with codes of ethics in order to maintain integrity of the court records” he said Elaborating, he said that reporters should provide the same level of services to all parties involved such as lawyers, witnesses and other parties.

He also said the reporters should use audio and visual transcripts available in the court saying they help in accuracy Another trainer and media guru, Mr Generali Ulimwengu said the role of the media is to make a follow up of the court’s decisions.

“You have a role to inform correctly. You need to be accurate. Whatever you put in the media becomes documented. Be well informed, if you do not understand ask for clarification” he said.

The three-day EACJ 2nd regional media training for editors and journalists on judicial reporting in East African Community that ended yesterday brought together EAC journalists from 7 partner states of Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, DR Congo, South Sudan, Rwanda and Burundi.