PM recounts legal sectors’ achievements under Samia

DODOMA: PRIME Minister Kassim Majaliwa has highlighted success recorded in three years of President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s leadership in the legal fraternity and in dispensation of justice.

According to the PM, more than 400,000 citizens and 7,000 inmates have accessed legal services provided for free through Mama Samia Legal Aid Campaign.

The Premier said that the legal aid service being provided through the campaign has helped a lot to broaden citizens’ understanding on legal issues and settling of various disputes and provision of legal services in various issues.

In the past three years, President Samia enabled 415,280 citizens and 7,166 inmates to access legal services free of charge through the Mama Samia Legal Aid Campaign launched in 1,348 villages in six regions in the country.

Majaliwa made the remarks in Dodoma yesterday during the opening of the Tanzania Public Bar Association-TPBA Annual General meeting with the theme “Access to Legal Services for Citizens is a Key Pillar for the Prosperity of the Society.

” He said President Samia’s commitment in ensuring access to legal aid services to all people, regardless of their economic status, enabled the strengthening of the use of the Kiswahili language in the provision of judicial services and in writing of legal documents, with the government completing the preliminary translation of 258 legislations.

“These laws will be officially announced so that they can be used to enable Tanzanians to understand the existing laws and thus make it easier for them to access justice and fulfill their responsibilities,” he said.

Majaliwa said that in line with the President’s vision of strengthening the justice delivery systems so that justice is accessible to all and in a timely manner, the government has established a Customer Service Contact Centre for receiving complaints, requests for legal services, information and feedback (Contact Centre) from citizens and various stakeholders on justice issues.

In order to expedite the hearing and conclusion of cases at the High Court and Court of Appeal level, a total of 61 judges have been appointed between March 2021 and February 2024 of whom 19 judges are for the Court of Appeal and 42 for High Court.

Therefore, as of February 2024, there were a total of 135 judges, of whom 100 serve in the High Court and 35 in the Court of Appeal, compared to 74 judges, of whom 58 were in the High Court and 16 in the Court of Appeal by March 2021.

The government has made improvements to the ICT systems of the Judiciary Services which have enabled simplification of online case registration and scheduling, timely availability of case progress and copies of judgments, reduction of hearing costs for the court and stakeholders and simplification of translation of judgments and case records.

He further said that by recognising the importance of access to legal services by all citizens the government has continued to take various steps including construction of infrastructure, human resource development and improvement of systems and specific legislations.

“These steps have been implemented alongside ensuring the availability of service providers so that they can also be available in rural areas for the majority of citizens,” he said.