Ten-year plan aims at liberating judiciary

After the government announced a strategy aimed at judicial reform last week, opposition groups and lawyers maintained that implementation of the ambitious plan would face an uphill battle. In the wake of international criticisms of the national judiciary system, Sana announced on 2 December a 10-year plan for modernising and reforming the judiciary branch, to be implemented between 2006 and 2016. "The judicial system is perhaps one of the most critical areas to be reformed for Yemen to make a true and comprehensive progress on all development fronts, most importantly to boost economic growth and encourage investment necessary for reducing poverty and addressing unemployment," according to UNDP spokesperson for Yemen, Khaled Ishaq said. "It is the main player for ensuring the respect for human rights and the elimination of injustices," he added. The country’s main opposition parties have long demanded that judicial authority be brought into line with the national constitution, which provides for judiciary independence. Critics insist, for example, that members of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) be elected by the Shura Council (the upper chamber of Parliament) rather than be appointed. Even Minister of Justice Adnan al-Jafri described current laws governing the judiciary as “backward,” saying: “The law must become a safe haven for all, far away from political interference.” According to Sana-based Lawyer Mohammed al-Mekhlafi, the separation of judicial from executive power is key. “The head of the executive branch shouldn’t be the head of the SJC, and the minister of justice shouldn’t be a member of the SJC, as is the case now.” “The appointment, promotion and transfer of judges shouldn’t be in the hands of the executive,” he added. Al-Jafri, however, insisted that the SJC already carried out its tasks independently, and that the president’s designation as council head was little more than honorary. Nevertheless, the reform strategy explicitly states that the SJC must exercise its powers “independently from the executive and legislative branches” to ensure administrative autonomy. According to al-Jafri, the biggest challenge facing the judicial system, along with interference and bribe-taking from influential figures in the executive, is “the lack of a judicial culture.” He went on to point out that only 127,000 legal cases were registered this year nationwide – a surprisingly low figure in a country of 20 million. What’s more, the national judicial system faces serious financial constraints. According to statistics annexed to the strategy paper, some 80 percent of Yemen’s courtrooms are rented apartments, not outfitted for judicial work. Additionally, the number of judges has waned in recent years, due in part to the fact that the Higher Institute for the Judiciary, responsible for training judges, re-opened only in 2002 after seven years of closure for administrative reasons. In order to improve these circumstances, the 10-year plan recommends increasing the portion of the national budget earmarked for judicial administration – currently 5,300,000,000 Yemeni Rials (about US$ 27 million) a year – by 50 percent annually.