Judicial reform is ongoing, says Union Chief Justice

February 8, 2018

The 14th coordination meeting of the Union Supreme Court and states/regions High Courts was held yesterday morning at the meeting hall of Union Supreme Court, Nay Pyi Taw, at which Union Chief Justice U Htun Htun Oo said judicial reforms are ongoing.

In his opening speech to the meeting’s attendees, the Union Chief Justice said judiciary reforms were conducted by drawing up a three-year strategic plan (2015-2017), with the work processes implemented annually. But the work is far from over, he said.

The judiciary reform work is a continuous, long-term process and a judiciary five-year strategic project (2018-2022) will be implemented successively. The Union Supreme Court will lead, while states/regions High Courts will manage the successful implantation of the judiciary five years strategic project (2018-2022), he said.

“Freedom of the courts, integrity of the judges, impartial court processes and trust of the people on the courts’ effectiveness are the main factors that make the judicial system exist. To retain the trust and reliance of the people, judges need to maintain their ethics and perform their duties diligently. Only then will the judiciary benefit the people” the Union Chief Justice said.

On cases that were filed and decided from 1 January to 31 December 2017, the Union Chief Justice said the Union Supreme Court accepted 1,543 criminal, 2,503 civil and 298 certiorari cases, of which 1,322 criminal, 2,214 civil and 287 certiorari cases were decided. States/regions High Courts accepted 6,202 criminal and 6,040 civil cases, of which 5,706 criminal and 5,071 civil cases were decided.

District courts accepted 20,478 criminal and 12,644 civil cases, of which 18,820 criminal and 11,238 civil cases were decided. Township courts accepted 365,256 criminal and 27,287 civil cases, of which 355,351 criminal and 24,227 civil cases were decided.

Juvenile Courts (Yangon and Mandalay) received 450 cases, of which 409 were decided.

Municipal Courts (Nay Pyi Taw, Yangon and Mandalay) accepted 23,081 cases and decided 23,103 cases that includes 22 cases from last year.

Traffic offence courts (Nay Pyi Taw, Yangon and Mandalay) accepted and decided on 146,296 cases. The Union Supreme Court confirmed 2,352 lawyers as Advocate and 879 lawyers as high court lawyers in 2017, said the Union Chief Justice.

The coordination meeting was attended by Supreme Court Judges, States/Regions Chief Judges, directors general, deputy directors general and directors from Union Supreme Court Office and Office of the Union Judiciary Supervision, States/Regions chief law officers and district judges. The coordination meeting will be held from 8 to 10 February, it is learnt.

Ref; The Global New Light of Myanmar