The Lone Advocate v A Pack of Prosecutors And Their Boss and The Guardian of Justice

JUSTICE DELAYED IS JUSTICE DENIED

When I was assessed at the end of public practice, the lady assessor asked me if there was anything I did not like about the way things were done at the courts. I cited quite a number of things, the broken chairs, and rotting ceilings of course but what I really wanted to talk about was how I do not like the fact that accused people were just remanded without justification at all.

Let me break it down to you; when a person is suspected of having committed an offence, he is arrested and should be brought before a Magistrate within 48 hours. Now, when he appears before a Magistrate, he is either remanded out of custody or in custody while investigations are being conducted into his alleged offence. Remand whether in or out of custody should not exceed a fortnight but a Prosecutor can apply for an extension at the end of the remand if investigations are not yet complete. This is a process that can go on for years, with remand being renewed every two weeks given the complexity of the case.

Note that I am not delusional about the fact that it is in the interest of the public that investigations be conducted thoroughly so as to avoid rushed and inaccurate conclusions. I, however, have a problem with the repeated placement of accused persons on remand for petty crimes that would not even require a day or week to find relevant information and evidence. I also have a problem with placing someone on remand for years however complicated the case is.

I feel or rather I observed that such discretion being given to Prosecutors to repeatedly keep requesting an extension of remand is a breeding ground for laziness. I mean Investigating Officers would simply not do any investigations and the Prosecutor comes to the court and says investigations are not yet complete when they were not even attempted.  Not to paint everyone with the same black brush, I was also very disappointed by some Magistrates who would just grant further remand without even questioning grounds justifying that.

All I am simply saying is if you have the power to protect people do not take it lightly and being a Magistrate or a Judge, there is a thin line between punishing and persecuting accused persons. It reminds me of this line in All Rise when Judge Lola Carmichael was arguing with her mom on how they were alike in fighting for the black community except that they were doing it differently using their different careers to fight for their people. Her mother then says to her maybe she should not fight for them looking down upon them, in reference to her role as a judge sitting high above the gallery.

I do believe that if the judiciary itself is not interested in justice delivery then nothing else can ever work in favour of the wheels of justice. While everyone can work towards the achievement of justice, it is still the judiciary that is at the driver’s wheel and as such determines whether the justice system delivers what it should or it destroys what it should not. After all, justice delayed is justice denied.

Forgive me for the rants, I feel a little revolutionary today.

Further Remand Refused

Further Remand Refused abbreviated F.R.R. and in turn pronounced as EFA-RARA is the nickname of one of my favourite people alive. It was almost impossible to get a further remand request granted before Efarara.

The first time I sat in his court I was hooked, professionally of course. I was professionally a gone girl. After a week-long frustration of watching people being continuously remanded for the pettiest of crimes, this man was a breath of fresh air. Every time he grilled the prosecutors on why they wanted a further remand, my heart would skip exactly 14 seconds in tribute to the 14 further remand days denied. On a serious note, this man was everything I imagined a man in his position would be and if I ever go magisterial, I know who my inspiration is.

All I am saying is I am glad that the legal profession has done great in that there are still people out there doing their jobs so passionately and are willing to fight for others wherever they are despite meager government salaries.

 Seriously, I did not intend to get inspired to get a government job in an old building but here I am strongly considering it. Just kidding!

Unfortunately or fortunately rather, it was in Efarara’s court that I got to write what I imagined to be a very cool and polite way to deal with exes who keep begging to worm their way back into your life and snatch away your freedom; just give them the Further Remand Refused Card but make it a bit romantic;

You walked into my cells.

I made a home for you,

I wanted this to be home forever

But…

Further remand is hereby refused.

 

This one is for the heroes whose names you will never read in history books!

 

IS THAT PROSECUTOR v DEFENCE ATTORNEY ANIMOSITY NOT JUST FICTION?

Before law school, I used to think like a layman. I believed that the rivalry between Prosecutors and Defence Attorneys portrayed in John Grisham’s books and most legal dramas was real. I was so devout to this professional rivalry religion that I could not wait to start having my own cute and preferably smart Prosecutor enemies I could battle legal wars against. It went as far as sleeping to thoughts of having a husband I love but hate so much because of all things he could have done in his short life, he chose to be a Prosecutor General and tried to send what is most probably the only reasonably reliable politician in the whole and not so wide country to jail on false allegations. Not that I want a Prosecutor husband or any husband at that, just saying.

I went to law school, and I observed that it does not matter on which side you are fighting, we are all fighting for one cause, justice. It does not matter which side you are fighting from as long as you are diligently fighting. As such, I concluded that the rivalry from the movies (Yes ladies, I am talking about Leonard Knox) is fake and not a true depiction of the legal world but just necessary to boost views.

But one day, I had my newfound conviction shaken and almost reverted back to my layman’s belief in legal rivalry. If it had not been for the rotting ceiling and the shortage of chairs, I would for just these two particular days completely believed that I was living in a movie, living the legal drama depiction of the legal world. Anyway movie or no movie, I actually got to watch what I, at first thought was a real-life case of some legal rivalry between Prosecutors and Defence Attorneys unfold and I have to say these were the best two days of my three weeks working at the National Prosecuting Authority. By best I mean sensationally dramatic, the kind of thrilling drama you do not hesitate getting into. The plot twist was however shocking and a very much-needed rescue from adopting my previous layman's beliefs. So here goes the case of;

The Lone Advocate v A Pack of Prosecutors and Their Boss and The Guardian of Justice

His arrival was silently noisy. So noisy was his presence that even the corridors which often buzz with loud shouts were noisy with hushed whispers. They whispered that he was coming from the big city, even though he himself was so short he could not have come from a place indicated anywhere on a map. His presence was not only silently loud, but it was also so tall that even the Guardian of Justice noticed him from his high chair without having to squint his eyes. He said his name was just an ordinary name because after all he was just an ordinary man fighting for justice but we did not believe that, we did not want to believe that. So we called him The Lone Advocate because he looked capable of taking on the Pack of Prosecutors and their Boss by himself, without having to dig in his pockets for an allegedly fat change to appease the Guardian of Justice.

But even though he was a lone Advocate, he was not really lonely because, like disciples under a spell, we rallied behind him. Some students are said to have offered to carry his bag. Rumour has it that the bag looked like it had been brought by a currency we could never in our wildest intellectual capacity spell correctly and from a country whose name we could not pronounce properly and made from the skin of an animal we have not yet heard of.  Other students are said to have, in awe-filled voices and smiles concealing a nervous dancing of the throat asked for his contacts because the purpose of an internship is to network as much as you can. One confessed that the truth was that the quickest way to get an orgasm was listening to his voice so getting his number was really a cheap alternative to buying a dildo.

Then there is me, I absolutely did not do anything because I was so shocked by the fact that I was so star-struck by a short man who was not even a star till a few seconds back when we learnt that he was in our home to challenge a three-year-old continuous remand of an alleged murderer. There is absolutely nothing in my world that is more appealing than a man or woman who makes the Guardians of Justice tremble because what is he or she if not a god? So I showed my support by sitting through every single court session on the front row with my diary open and my pen bleeding profusely on this paper suffering on account of The Lone Advocate’s knowledge and eloquence. I sat there, through every break, every postponement, through every disappointment, pretending I was a journalist on a mission to write a Pulitzer-winning profile of this man who did not sound like any lawyer we had encountered before.

The Pack of Prosecutors and their Boss were far from thrilled and they did not hide it. Their anger had a loud red voice, “How dare he want to meddle with our further remand?” The echoes of their fear were reflected in the rustling of the pages of the Criminal and Evidence Act and the incessant beeping and whirring of the printer as it printed case after case looking for a way out of capture by the Lone Advocate. When this did not work, their distress was communicated by the endless ringing of the telephone followed by briefly long, shortly loud conversations.

It was Armageddon and I was on the side-lines, watching it, craving to be part of it, taking sides and loving it, but also content on not being in the path of giants. As I said, placing people on remand continuously is, for me, not cool at all, so having the Lone Advocate share my sentiments was such an honour, a nod from a god. He fought hard, and the Pack of Prosecutors fought back, reluctantly but hard as well. The Guardian of Justice watched and listened; nodded and interrupted. He took a break and came back ready to listen and to question, to educate and to be educated too. He shared his wisdom and was rewarded with some wisdom too. 

The rest of us in the gallery held our breath and communicated with our eyes, silently praying for this stranger we could not help but believe in his fight because he was fighting for our cause, fighting for not just a man he was representing but countless other faces who are victims of continuous and unreasonable further remand. Lady Justicia did not smile at the Lone Advocate because he lost to the Pack of Prosecutors, lost with dignity because we all still rallied with him in his loss. We believed in what he was fighting for and we still believed in it in spite of the Guardian of Justice’s decision.

Now, ladies and gentlemen; while I strongly wanted to believe that I had just witnessed some top-tier case of legal rivalry, one for the Oscars, I have to be truthful and admit that I do not think that what I witnessed was a coming into life of a fictional legal animosity. What I witnessed was two sides to the justice system doing their job to the best of their ability. If there is one thing the Lone Advocate and the Pack of Prosecutors had in common, it is strenuously advocating for their respective clients. These people were fighting tooth and nail in court then calling each other by their first names later and giving each other hugs. There is absolutely no reason to treat each other like an enemy because, at the end of it all, they are all fighting for one thing, justice. I do not think that the level of professionalism and courtesy expected of legal professionals guards against petty rivalry.  While they work in different offices and for different people, their jobs complement each other and together strike a balance between protecting the public and protecting individuals and the end goal is always to attain justice.

Here is to legal animosity remaining just a fictional subject! 

Here is to continuously fight for justice from whatever side we are on!