WTH?

The Chief Justice must issue guidelines on bail amounts to ensure that those set by the courts are commensurate with the seriousness of the crimes in question.

There is also a need for guidelines to ensure that magistrates and judges do not issue unwarranted pre-emptory orders that may be seen to defeat the pursuit of justice. ~ Graft war is won by more than just words

This, dear friends, is the lazy thinking from the civil society and, quite frankly, lawyers who should know better than to append their names to these kinds of foolishness. First things first. Are the authors of this remarkable document suggesting the Chief Justice has the power to command what ruling a magistrate must make when it comes to the small matter of bail or, more worryingly, that the Chief Justice can direct when injunctions can be granted and when they cannot?

This is not rocket science. The Judiciary, even with all its problems, is not the reason why corruption has felled the best and the brightest. Our weaknesses, if that at all, stem from investigations, evidence-gathering and prosecution. The National Police (including the Directorate of Criminal Investigations), the anti-corruption commission and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions have the responsibility to collect the relevant evidence in regard to a corruption investigation and present a strong case in court. Why the belief that bail policy or an injunctions’ policy will be the key to winning the war on corruption is gaining currency is a mystery I cannot explain.

When it comes to evidence-gathering, things have never been done on the up and up. The reason why accused persons are granted bail or preliminary injunctions is because either evidence against them is never collected or it is collected in a manner that ensures investigations are tainted from the start. It is not the Anti-corruption and Economic Crimes Act or the Judicature Act that are to blame; it is the determination by the investigation agencies to ignore everything about the Evidence Act that sinks almost all corruption prosecutions. Willy Mutunga and his judiciary can’t help it if the DPP brings to court a shoddily investigated case. What do you think the judiciary is? Clairvoyant?

Obviously, the war on graft is not a war of words, but it is words that matter in the war. When evidence is gathered, it is usually in the form of documents. When a case is prosecuted in court, it is usually in the form of words. When a person is convicted, the convection is in the form of words contained in an order of the court.

An anti-corruption strategy is words on paper. An anti-corruption law is words on paper. Words are important. The right words are the difference between success and failure. We haven’t found the right words yet. The President’s words last week were beautiful, but utterly meaningless. They were not a strategy. They were not a true rallying call. They were just the same empty words we have heard over and over again. Now the authors of the above quotes are adding to that vast emptiness of words with ridiculous calls for the usurpation of the autonomy of the judiciary – and one of them is a damn lawyer! What the hell is going on?