Chief Justice Sir Albert Palmer

CHIEF Justice Sir Albert Palmer has highlighted during the ceremony to mark the opening of the 2017 legal year that administration of justice is not cheap, it never has been.

Justice Palmer said since he joined the bench some 27 years ago it was obvious then and still that the courts need to be adequately funded to discharge their constitutional mandate.

The courts in the country have continued to function within such constraints through thick and thin, high or low and remained faithful to their judicial oath and duty statements, Justice Palmer said.

“We have not blatantly gone out of our way to misuse, mismanage or misspend funds.

“It is time however, for the importance and significance of the judiciary as the third arm of government to be given due recognition and not mere lip service,” Justice Palmer said.

He said the Judiciary is the third arm of the Government and must be given sufficient and adequate funding to be able to carry out its duties well and not starved.

“The judiciary has been struggling in terms of funding to get things moving, whenever they wish to embark on any new project; sometimes response only received when things are about to collapse,” Justice Palmer added.

“And this is unacceptable for we should be able to plan and implement our plans in a systematic and methodical manner.”

Justice Palmer also highlighted the experience they encountered a couple of years back that they requested funds for a specific purpose from the Government and were assured that certain amounts of fund had been secured but they said that it had to be paid into the appropriate ministry, which remain nameless.

Therefore he said they need assistance to have all the paper work done and the project to be costed as the next step.

Because none of them in the national Judiciary will have the time to work on it and they are looking for assistance to fast track their project this year.