What is the Commonwealth Secretariat doing for justice systems in member countries?
Kevin Maguire is Legal Adviser within the Justice Section of the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Division of the Commonwealth Secretariat. He is responsible for developing assistance programmes for justice systems in member countries that request help. Aldo Zammit-Borda asked him about his main areas of work. Swazilands courts have a substantial backlog of civil and criminal cases. Sometimes people must wait a long time to have their case heard. What is the Commonwealth Secretariat doing to help alleviate this problem? The most serious consequence of the backlog of criminal cases in Swaziland is the detention of people awaiting trial. Such people can be held in custody for a substantial period of time before their case is determined. Another consequence of the backlog – this time relating to civil and commercial cases – is that it discourages commerce in Swaziland. The backlog serves to scare investors away; this is due to the fact that litigation is an ordinary component of commercia
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- What is the Commonwealth Secretariat doing for justice systems in member countries?
