While the Libya crisis rages, we will touch upon an issue that was raised by a respected magistrate in terms of local court hearings.

The magistrate was referring to minor hearings and civil hearings and the fact that many people do not turn up, resulting in a waste of the court’s time. The magistrate remarked that while the media was quick to criticise members of the judiciary who “do not do much work”, attention also needed to be drawn to the fact that complainants and lawyers often do not turn up for a sitting, even though they may have instituted a case themselves.

The magistrate was not seeking to exculpate the judiciary; in fact he agreed that there were people on the bench who did not perform as well as they should. But he pointed out that the problem extended to the fact that people filed cases in the court registry, only for them, or their lawyers, to not turn up.

Anyone who has worked in the courts has experience of court marshals bellowing out the names of parties and lawyers three times. Many times the parties do not answer, or the lawyers simply do not show up. With the lawyers, many times this is due to them being stuck in another court room after being ‘double-booked’. Both scenarios are wrong. It is an absolute waste of the court’s time and that of the other party involved.

The situation also gives rise to frivolous cases being filed in the courts. If the party which institutes the case does not turn up, then there is little that the court can do in some cases, apart from adjourn the sitting to another date. This, of course, does not apply in criminal cases where the police are involved, but it is happening all too often in the civil realm and the minor cases.

The Law Courts are one of the highest institutions in the land, and they deserve respect. Thankfully, in our democracy, they are not immune to deserved criticism, and this publication will continue to criticise where it sees fit, as it always has done.

But on the other hand, this newspaper will always listen to any valid opinion as it has done in terms of this magistrate. He is right. It is absolutely unacceptable to have lawyers not turn up for a sitting because they are engaged elsewhere. It is absolutely unacceptable for citizens to file cases and then not turn up to argue them. It is contempt – both in terms of the law and in terms of common decency.

The Law Courts are not there as a commodity, or an instrument to use or abuse when we please. They are there to mete out justice to all, impartially and without favour. Just as the court must respect the rights of the citizens which it is duty bound to uphold, citizens and lawyers must show respect and at least turn up on the given date.

As Libya edges close to civil war and rights are trampled on, it is up to us to uphold our democracy and respect for the rule of law and the Law Courts is one way to do that. Failing to do so is a failure to ourselves.