UN EXPERT EXPRESSES GRAVE CONCERN OVER RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN SWAZILAND

4 December 2002




The following statement was issued today by the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights:


Dato' Param Cumaraswamy, Special Rapporteur of the United Nations Commission on Human Right on the independence of judges and lawyers, expresses grave concern over the deterioration of the rule of law in Swaziland in the wake of a press statement of November 28 2002, issued by the Prime Minister Sibusiso Dlamini, which resulted in the resignation of the entire bench of judges of the Court of Appeal, followed by a work stoppage by the judges of the High Court on December 2 as a mark of protest.

In his press statement, the Prime Minister expressed that his government “does not intend to recognize the two judgments of the Court of Appeal”.

The Special Rapporteur has learnt that one of the two judgments is with regard to a ruling that King Mswati III had no constitutional mandate over Parliament for issuing decrees affecting the law. The particular impugned decree denied bail to rape suspects. The other ruling of the Court of Appeal was with regard to an order for committal of contempt of court against the Police Commissioner for disobeying a High Court order.

It is clear that failure on the part of the government to honour decisions of constitutionally constituted courts is, Dato' Param Cumaraswamy said, a blatant breach of what is implied in principle 4 of the United Nations Principles on the Independence of the Judiciary and article 26 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights:


Principle 4

There shall not be any inappropriate or unwarranted interference with the judicial process, nor shall judicial decisions by the courts be subject to revision. This principle is without prejudice to judicial review or to mitigation or commutation by competent authorities of sentences imposed by the judiciary, in accordance with the law.


Article 26

States Parties to the present Charter shall have the duty to guarantee the independence of the Courts and shall allow the establishment and improvement of appropriate national institutions entrusted with the promotion and protection of the rights and freedoms guaranteed by the present Charter.

Further, the action of the Prime Minister has pitted the executive government of Swaziland not against just the independent Court of Appeal, its judges and their decisions but against the majesty of the rule of law which is the very foundation of a democratic state, the Special Rapporteur added.

These developments must be viewed with grave concern for that region and could have serious implications for the New Economic Partnership and Development (NEPAD) initiative in Africa, Dato' Param Cumaraswamy said.

The Special Rapporteur urges Prime Minister Dlamini to revoke his press statement, respect the judgments of the Court of Appeal and restore the rule of law in Swaziland.




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