Two separate internal communiques from the Office of the Judiciary and the Ministry of Justice and Labour Relations addressed to magistrates and the legal aid division bring to the fore the severity of the financial situation within the country’s judicial system. 

Dated 15 January 2026, the memos communicate the dire financial constraints facing the judicial sector and further outline the various austerity measures that the Office of the Judiciary and justice ministry intend to take to salvage the situation. 

In its memo addressed to acting chief of legal aid Brownwell Eirab, the ministry directed that all legal aid counsel who have matters set down for hearing outside their duty stations must make timely arrangements to have the hearings postponed. 

“Kindly be advised that the Legal Aid budget for travelling and subsistence allowance is depleted. Legal aid counsel who have matters set down for hearing outside their duty stations must make timely arrangements with the key stakeholders, such as the magistrates, public prosecutors, co-defence counsel and their clients, to have the matters postponed in their absence. This will avoid unnecessary costs being incurred in the form of witness fees, etc.,” reads the memo.

The situation remains unchanged.

The legal aid department was advised that legal aid extension services will only return to full speed once funds become available for counsel to travel to courts outside their duty stations to attend to scheduled court cases. 

On its part, the Office of the Judiciary communicated to all magistrates through Chief Magistrate Vanessa Stanley that due to ongoing budgetary constraints and a depleted magistracy S&T budget, no part-heard matters that involve magistrates travelling outside their assigned duty stations will be accommodated from 15 March 2026 until 15 April 2026. 

Also, during the period of 15 March 2026 until 15 April 2026, cases will not be allowed to be scheduled at periodical courts. 

This is part of the Office of the Judiciary’s ongoing austerity measures aimed at keeping the wheels of justice rolling and accessible to all.

“It is recognised that there may already be cases scheduled, but any further scheduling, effective today [15 January 2026], will be regarded as non-compliance with this directive. All S&T claims are to be submitted within one week after the travel. Claims older than two weeks will require an additional explanation (affidavit) as to the delay in submitting the claim,” the memo outlines.

Aware

On the depleted budgets, especially for the legal aid department, justice minister Fillemon Wise Immanuel said the situation has been communicated to the Treasury. 

“Anybody who listened to both remarks by the Chief Justice (Peter Shivute) and those of our President (Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah) will understand that we have some constraint of resources within the system. It is one of the limiting factors towards the execution and service delivery in general. Across all government sectors, we do not have enough resources – be it from the human capital point of view or financial resources,” Immanuel said.

He continued: “But as the Executive, we are trying to do more with the little that we have. We have made it clear and have communicated to the Treasury that what we are given is not sufficient and that it hampers our service delivery at the end. So, the conversations are ongoing, and we will see what will come out of those consultations”.

Under duress

Speaking at the official opening of the legal year function over a week ago, Shivute did not mince his words, laying bare the harsh realities facing the country’s judicial system.

Shivute said not only is the judicial fraternity grappling with underfunding, but a lack of adequate human capital remains one of its biggest Achilles’ heels. 

During the 2024 legal year, a civil bench of 13 judges managed a total of 4 987 cases, with an average workload of approximately 384 cases per judge. 

In 2025, the reduced civil bench managed 4 295 cases. He said, although the overall number of cases declined, the average workload per judge rose sharply to approximately 614 cases per judge. 

He said this represents an increase of nearly 60% in the average workload per judge. Outlining the most significant challenges encountered in the past year, he stated that inadequate resources, especially in human resources, remain one of the judiciary’s most immediate and pressing challenges. 

Shivute pointed out that the retirement of two seasoned jurists in the Supreme Court and two others in the High Court further worsened the situation, particularly in the civil stream. 

He said the civil stream has been operating under severe and sustained constraints in judicial capacity. 

He warned that a weakened judiciary fraternity affects every sector of society but assured that measures are being taken at all levels to address the current limitations.

This includes interventions such as the Aspirants Judges Training Programme that was revived last year, a memorandum of understanding with sister countries to draw support and insight to advance the country’s ongoing reform initiatives as well as urging qualified judicial professionals to come forward and assist in various capacities. 

Judge’s cry

If a cry for help by High Court Judge Beatrix de Jager is anything to go by, most judges find themselves between a rock and a hard place, having to choose between their oath-taken responsibility and their own well-being. De Jagger recently laid bare the strain on Namibia’s courts through a court order.

“A day has 24 hours. I am a human,” the judge said when postponing the delivery of a judgement.

She postponed the delivery of her judgement to 17 March, refusing to sacrifice her personal health because of work pressure.

She noted that it was the 13th court day that she had been back from leave this year, but she has already delivered five judgements, while two more judgements were with the court’s proofreaders and another was about to be sent for proofreading.

“Thus, for 2026, I have, to date, written eight judgements,” De Jager stated. She continued: “The system’s expectations, which, to date, have provided no relief despite the current unreasonable workload brought about by the crisis workforce shortage, are inhumane”.

She continued: “Something must change drastically. For the time being, there is no change. The result is that something has got to give. I choose not to be me anymore at the cost of my personal health”.

-ohembapu@nepc.com.na