Thirty Five States, Seven Institutional Organisations and Two NGOs
This event was organised by the Court of Cassation of Senegal, under the aegis of the International Organisation of the speaking and promotion of French around the world. Thirty five States as well as seven institutional organisations and two NGOs (the international Union of lawyers and the UIHJ) were present at this two days seminar on: “The independence of justice”.
The Chiefs Justice of the interested countries to whom some renowned experts had joined convened in the Senegalese capital to contribute to the debates which proved to be nourished.
The opening meeting was placed under the chair of Mr. Sheik Hadjibou Soumare, Prime Minister of the Republic of Senegal who was to pronounce a warm welcome speech, in the name of the President of the Republic, Mr Abdoulaye Wade. This ceremony was chaired by Mr. Papa Oumar Sakho, First President of the Court of Cassation of Senegal and President of the AHJUCAF.
From the start, the Chief Justice of Senegal laid the characteristics of the independence of justice “at the same time a condition of the promotion of the Rule of Law and a means of its safeguard”.
In its institutional and cultural conception, the independence of justice lies on the superiority of the Rule of Law, on a Police State, or an Administrative State. By doing this, the application of this principle should not mask the psychological crisis of the justice illustrated by the load of criticisms addressed to “the justice” in its broad sense.
According to the President of the AHJUCAF, these elements call for the progressive splitting of the trust of the citizens in the justice system and in the “crystallization of a negative opinion of the public, leaven of a bad image of the judicial power”.
This call for a natural conclusion: it is important to react and undoubtedly the AHJUCAF could be the instrument of this reaction.
A Realistic Approach
The base of this recapture of the foundations of a justice with a restored image rests on the idea to promote a fair distribution of powers - in its political meaning -, between the executive, the legislature and the judiciary, which would allow everyone, in their own domains, to express their own sovereignty.
Ultimately, the separation of powers remains in the heart of the problems and a “realistic” approach of the situation results in realising, according to the Judge, that the executive is reluctant to respect its contours, without challenging the independence of the judge.
To obviate what appears to constitute an imbalance, it would be advisable to reinforce the guaranties of the judge by constitutional way. Such remarks were likely to launch the debates for which several speakers followed one another at the chair:
- Mr. Alioune Badara Fall, professor of public law at the university of Bordeaux IV and Mrs Nicole Duple, professor at the university of Laval (Canada), on the topic of “Threats on independence” (Chairman Mr. Papa Oumar Sakho, president of the AHJUCAF);
- Mr. Gabor Szeplaki-Nagy, public auditor at the Supreme Court of Hungary, principal private secretary of the presidency, and Mr. Saad Moummi, President of Chamber at the Supreme Court of Morocco, member of the cabinet of the first president, on the topic of “Protections of independence” (Chairman Mr. Driss Dahak, first president of the Supreme Court of Morocco).
At the end of the lectures, a round table was organised around “the international experience of the Common Court of Justice and Arbitration of the OHADA” and chaired by Mr. Ndongo Fall, President of the Common Court of Justice and Arbitration, was to precede the summary report presented by Mr. Ivan Verougstraete, President of the Court of Cassation of Belgium.
The Head of the State, Guarantor of the Independence of Judges
The congress was to be enclosed by the adoption of a final motion expressing:
- that the independence of justice, like that of the judges, rests for the latter on the one hand, by a recruitment, a course of career and an disciplinary statute exclusive from any political interference and on the other hand, by a mode been subject to transparent and democratic rules
- that the Head of the State asserts himself as the guarantor of this independence, given that that this task could not fall on to him personally, but would have, quite on the contrary, being entrusted to independent people including judges.
The motion was to still stress that the independence of the Judges excludes any form of corruption, that it was to be subjugated to a decent remuneration and the granting of appropriations necessary to the functioning of this “service to society.”
Lastly, the ultimate conclusions focused on the rules of the irremovability of the judges and the requirement of an explicit and free assent in precondition before any change, except when establishing a legal mode of mobility adapted to the interest of the service.
The UIHJ was represented by its president, Jacques Isnard and its vice president, Yacine Sene.
After a very convivial reception at the residence of the French embassy, the congressmen were invited to a closing evening, marked with the special warmth that characterise Senegalese hosts, i.e. in the Teranga tradition.
