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September 2018
CMJA issues a Statement on the Suspension of the Chief
Justice of Lesotho. Click
here for the Statement
CMJA General Assembly, meeting in Brisbane on 13
September adopts "THE
BRISBANE DECLARATION ON THE INDEPENDENCE AND INTEGRITY OF
JUDICIAL OFFICERS OF THE LOWER COURTS"
May 2018
April 2018
CLA, CLEA and CMJA issue a Statement in Support
of the Judiciary in Seychelles. Click
here for the Statement.
Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), London
The CMJA was represented at the Commonwealth Fora
held in the wings of the CHOGM by Dr Karen Brewer
Secretary General. Dr Brewer made contributions from
the floor at the Women's
Forum. In addition, the CMJA, as a member of the Latimer
House Working Group was involved in the Panel session
at the People's
Forum (civil society) on Separation of Powers,
Former Director of Studies and member of the Working Group,
Hon. Keith Hollis spoke ont the panel about the importance
of ensuring that the Commonwealth Latimer House Toolkit
was used out by Commonwealth governments and about the importance
of protecting judicial officers at the lower level who are
not covered by constitutional norms. Other panellists included,
Lady Hale, President of the UK Supreme Court who spoke about
the importance of diversity in judicial appointments and
a system based on merit, The Rt. Hon. Angelo Farrugia, Speaker
of the Malta Parliament who spoke about the importance of
an independent parliament with its own resources. Mrs Cheryl
Dorall. Commonwealth Journalists Association stressed the
role of the media as an oversight mechanism in the separation
of powers. The session was chaired by Mr Mark Guthrie, Acting
Head of the Rule of Law Section of the Commonwealth Secretariat.
We are grateful to Mrs Katherine Eden Haig, former CEO and
Secretary General of the Commonwealth Lawyers Association
for all her assistance with the organisation of this session
with the Commonwealth Foundation.
CMJA Council Member from Canada, Justice Lynne Leitch,
was appointed to the First Advisory Board of the Global
Judicial Integrity Network
which was launched in Vienna. Austria on 9-10 April
2018.
The CMJA former Director of Studies, Hon. Keith Hollis,
organised a Panel Session on behalf of the CMJA at the Conference
launching the Global Judicial Integrity Network on "A
Trade-Off? Balancing Independence and Accountability"
. Panellists included Justice Charles Mkandawire, Council
member for Malawi and Justice Lynne Leitch. Reporting back,
Justice Mkandawire indicated that the session had been extremely
well attended and the issues raised, in particular the status
of magistrates and the need to follow due process to be
followed when disciplining judicial officers were of particular
concern to those participating.
March 2018
CMJA holds a Training Course on Case Management, Judicial
Ethics and Independence for judges and magistrates in
Banjul, The Gambia from 20-22 March 2018. The CMJA
is the first organisation to run a Commonwealth programme
in Banjul since they re-joined on 8 February 2018. We are
very grateful to the UK Cabinet Office, especially the Commonwealth
Summit 2018 Unit and the British High Commission in Banjul
for all their support of this programme. Click
here to see the video
February 2018
CMJA held its second Training Course on Case
Management and Judicial Ethics jointly with the UK Civil
Service College. Judicial Officers from Singapore, England
and Wales, Isle of Man, Ghana and Barbados.
CLA, CLEA and CMJA issue a Statement
in support of the Judiciary in Kenya
January 2018
CMJA former Executive Vice President, Sir Henry
Brooke passes away (see obituary in the
Times)
December 2017
Lady Brenda Hale, President of the UK Supreme Court
becomes Patron of the CMJA
Endowment Trust
November 2017
Chief Magistrate Matankiso Nthunya represented the
CMJA at the East African Magistrates and Judges Conference
held in Kigali, Rwanda.
October 2017
Justice Charles Mkandawire represented the CMJA
at the UNODC's consultation on the Judicial
Global Integrity Network in Windhoek, Namibia, in October
2017.
The CMJA Secretary General represented the CMJA
at the Commonwealth
Law Ministers Meeting in The Bahamas where she spoke
abou the activities of the CMJA since the last meeting in
Botswana. Click
here for the Outcome Statement.
The CMJA Secretary Genera, Dr Brewer, l paid a courtesy
visit the East African Court of Justice in Arusha and met
with the President of the Court, Hon. Justice Dr Emmanuel
Ugirashebuja, the Registrar of the Court, Mr Yufnailis Okubo
and the Deputy Registrar, Mrs Geraldine Umugwaneza. The
East African Court of Justice
is currently the only Institutional Member of the CMJA and
Dr Brewer expressed her gratitude to the Court and individual
judges at for their support of the aims of the Association.
She also learned more about the workings fo the Court.
See RECENT DEVELOPMENTS (BELOW) FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
Previous reports on activities: Click
here
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