Judiciary of Malawi

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Judiciary of Malawi" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (December 2013) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

Part of a series on Politics of Malawi
Constitution Human rights
Government President (list) Lazarus Chakwera Vice-President Saulos Chilima Cabinet
Legislature National Assembly Speaker: Catherine Gotani Hara
Elections General 1964 1971 1976 1978 1983 1987 1992 1994 1999 2004 2009 2014 2019 2025 Presidential 2020 Referendums 1993 Political parties
Administrative divisions Regions Districts
Foreign relations Ministry of Foreign Affairs Minister: Nancy Tembo Diplomatic missions of / in Malawi Passport Visa requirements Visa policy
National symbols Flag Anthem
Malawi portal Other countries
v t e

The Judiciary of Malawi is the branch of the

The High Court of Malawi has unlimited original jurisdiction to hear and determine any civil or criminal proceedings.[7] It has a General Division which may also hear appeals from subordinate courts, and a Commercial Division, dealing with commercial or business cases. Most High Court cases are heard before a single judge, without a jury, but cases on constitutional matters must be heard by three judges.

Subordinate courts

One subordinate court is the Industrial Relations Court with jurisdiction over employment issues.^[8] Cases before it are heard informally, and with some restrictions on legal representation, by a panel consisting of a chairperson and one representative each of employers and employees. Other subordinate courts are the magistrates' courts and local or traditional courts.^[9] These have defined criminal and civil jurisdiction depending on their level, but expressly excluding cases of treason, murder or manslaughter.

History

During colonial rule, the hierarchy of courts began with magistrates' courts in the towns, rising to a High Court and finally a Supreme Court of Appeal. In addition, mainly in rural areas, there were several levels of local courts with varying powers to hear disputes such as divorces and other matrimonial issues, inheritance and access to land based on traditional customary law. These courts also heard minor criminal cases specified in the Malawi Penal Code, using an expedited procedure. These were subordinate to the High Court, and subject to legislation giving the guarantee of a fair trial, including the right to legal representation and the right to appeal to the High Court.^[10]: 44

After independence in 1964, Prime Minister

From 1970, the system of traditional courts was transformed. Three regional traditional courts and a National Traditional Court of Appeal were created above the existing network of lower-level traditional courts, and given jurisdiction over virtually all criminal trials, including murder and treason, involving Africans of Malawian descent, using "customary" rules of evidence and procedure. Appeals were directed to a National Traditional Court of Appeal rather than the Malawi High Court, as had been the case before 1970. The High Court and Supreme Court of Appeal remained in existence, and mainly dealt with civil law cases outside customary law. Although these courts retained their criminal jurisdiction, in practice the vast majority of criminal cases were heard in the traditional courts. The traditional courts were supposed to operate in accordance with African law and custom, although they applied an authoritarian, restrictive and punitive version of customary law, in line with the views of Banda. The majority of the judges were chiefs without legal training, appointed by and liable to dismissal by Banda, without any judicial independence. Defendants were not allowed lawyers to plead their cases and had no automatic rights either to call witnesses or to appeal (these were at the discretion of the courts and the Minister of Justice). They were not given a summary of the charges against them before the trial, so they could not prepare a defence.^{[11][12]: 363}

The traditional courts gained a reputation for corruption and for prosecuting Banda's political opponents, for example the high-profile trials in 1976 of Albert Muwalo, Secretary General of the

In October 1993 the three regional traditional courts and the National Traditional Appeal Court were suspended indefinitely. A new Constitution came into force on 18 May 1994, with recognition of customary law as an integral part of the legal system, and the conversion of many lower traditional courts into magistrates' courts. It also provided for a new system of Traditional Courts but legislation for this was not introduced until 2011.[10]^: 43–46 The 2011 legislation provided for two levels of customary law courts: several Local Courts were established in each of Malawi's 27 districts, mainly in rural areas, and one District Appeals Local Court in each district (to hear appeals from the Local Courts). Further appeals may be made to the High Court, to which both types of Local Courts are subordinate. Each Local Court and District Appeals Local Court was headed by a chairperson, who need not be a lawyer, but with a reasonable standard of education, proficiency in English and an adequate knowledge of the customary law and language of the area that the court serves.^[14]

List of chief justices

• 1964–? Sir Frederick Southworth
• 1969-1970: Sir Philip Pike^[15]
• 1970–1985: James John Skinner
• 1985-1992: Friday Lewis Makuta SC (First Malawian to hold office of Chief Justice)
• 1992–2002:
  Chief Justice of Swaziland
  , 2007)
• 2003–2007: Leonard E. Unyolo
• 2007-2013: Lovemore Munlo
• 2013–2015: Anastasia Msosa
• 2015–2021 Andrew K.C. Nyirenda
• 2021- Rizine Mzikamanda

See also

• Traditional Courts in Malawi
• Politics of Malawi

References