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Gambia News : Gambia: Judges discuss West Africa's weak judicial system
The Director General of the Inter-Governmental Action Group against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA), Dr. Abdullahi Shehu, here on Thursday lamented the problems and challenges facing the judicial system in West Africa, PANA reported.
Shehu said at the opening of a three-day seminar on economic and financial crimes for judges in English-speaking West Africa, organised by GIABA, in collaboration with the Commonwealth Secretariat, that the challenges included the application of obsolete legislation or lack of legislation, lack of judicial independence, undue influence, social tolerance to corruption and fear of retribution.
He stressed that judges were expected to be impartial, not only in their decisions but also in the process by which the decisions are made.
According to him, they must perform their judicial functions without favour, bias or prejudice and should ensure that their conduct, both in and out of court, maintains and enhances the credibility of the public, the legal profession and litigants.
In his speech, the Chief Justice of The Gambia, Emmanuel Agim, called on judges in the sub-region to be guided by the underlying principles and laws in dealing with money laundering, corruption and financial crime.
Agim said: "Any enforcement process that is not guided by all of these considerations will certainly not be effective and will not yield substantial justice. It matters not that the enforcement results in a conviction."
According to him, money laundering, terrorism, corruption, economic and financial crimes usually involve big money, desperate perpetrators, serious and complex temptations and in order to effectively and efficiently enforce the law in these cases, your judicial integrity must be impeccable.
"You must deliberately focus on protecting your integrity and not to show your popularity as a courageous or upright judge. Popularity seeking is in itself a sign of lack of integrity," he said.
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