Judiciary of Namibia
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The judiciary of Namibia consists of a three-tiered set of courts, the Lower, High and Supreme Courts. Parallel to this structure there are traditional courts dealing with minor matters and applying customary law.
Lower Courts
The
Magistrates' courts deal with the most cases in the entire legal system. They are manned by
Arbitration tribunals are established by section 85 of the Labour Act No. 11 of 2007. Arbitration tribunals operate under the auspices of the Labour Commissioner. They deal with labour disputes, mainly arising from alleged contraventions of the Labour Act.
The regional courts are the least used lower courts, and are slowly becoming obsolete.[1]
High Court
The High Court is situated in the capital Windhoek but may, at the discretion of the Judge President, hold its sessions elsewhere in the country.[2] The High Court building in the Windhoek Central Business District was inaugurated in 1960 and is currently[update] undergoing renovations and expansions.[3]
The High Court exercises original jurisdiction. It can act both as a court of appeal and a court of first instance over civil and criminal prosecutions and in cases concerning the interpretation, implementation and preservation of the Constitution. The High Court is presided over by the Judge-President. A full sitting of the High Court consists of the Judge-President and 6 other judges. Its jurisdiction with regard to appeals shall be determined by Acts of Parliament. Decisions of the High Court, which bind lower courts, are recorded both in Namibian and South African law reports. The decisions are recorded and summarized in the same way as Supreme Court decisions.[1]
The Labour Court is a division of the High Court. The Judge-President must assign suitable judges to the Labour Court, each of whom must be a judge or an acting judge of the High Court.
Supreme Court
The
Traditional courts
Community courts, which apply
Prior to the official recognition of traditional law in Namibia, these courts operated informally without recognition as part of the legal system. These developments are an extension of art 66 of the Constitution which holds that both the customary law and the common law of Namibia in force on the date of Independence shall remain valid to the extent to which such customary or common law does not conflict with this Constitution or any other statutory law. The courts have no reporting system, as the laws that they apply are very dynamic and may not be applied the same in any number of cases heard before them.[1]
References
- ^ a b c d e "Researching Namibian Law and the Namibian Legal System - GlobaLex".
- Konrad Adenauer Stiftung: 76.)
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(help - ^ Menges, Werner (20 August 2014). "High Court gets new face after 54 years". The Namibian. p. 5.
- ^ "Dispute over missing Tassies and sugar for cattle". Namibian Sun. 27 September 2016.