MAGISTRATES and other judicial officers risk losing their respective jobs if it will be proved or otherwise to have been involved in bribery transactions when conducting their official duties.
This was said by the Chief Justice (CJ), Prof Ibrahim Juma, when administering oath taking of 65 new Resident Magistrates at the High Court building in Dar es Salaam yesterday.
“It does not sound well for a magistrate to be implicated in bribery scandals. It is a shame for a magistrate to be taken before his or her colleague member of the bench facing bribery charges.
We will act very tough on those who will involve themselves in such malpractices,” the CJ warned.
According to him, the current position of the Judicial Service Commission was that any magistrate who would be taken to court for bribery charges would be retired on public interests even if he or she would not be found guilty of the offences.
He pointed out that they were striving to clean up all corrupt elements, emphasizing that it would be better for a person to continue doing other things instead of petitioning to be a magistrate with a view of getting more benefits than those outlined in his or her employment contract.
“Our salary scales do not differ with other public servants, and you must read once more your employment letters if you really want to know what are your entitlements. We should not expect other benefits outside the lawful system,” the head of the Judiciary said.
Among the 65 new magistrates sworn were seven employees of the Judiciary who have been promoted to the new post after working on different capacities, including court clerks.
The CJ was however quick to advise them to act as a mirror and set good examples to others. Prof Juma expressed his hopes that such employees would not close the door for others to join the new profession after passing the necessary tests, and directed them to refrain from engagement of any form of being sources of conflicts as such kind of behavour will not be tolerated.
He reminded all the magistrates of their obligations before the society, including interpreting diverse laws and execution of administrative decisions and hearing and deciding cases filed before the courts of law and, thus, dispensing justice in a timely manner.
According to him, the magistrates should continue educating members of the public of their rights obligations under the laws of Tanzania and facilitating maintenance of peace and order through good governance and the rule of law.
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