Union of Malagasy Magistrates: “There is no independence in the Malagasy judiciary”

A session of roundtable between the Union of Malagasy magistrates (SMM) on the one hand and journalists and other members of civil society on the other hand was held yesterday at the Supreme Court building in Anosy. This is a preliminary meeting before the national conference on the independence of the judiciary and the rule of law which is planned to take place next February. The participants in the meeting all made reference to the alarming decline of the rule of law, the problems of corruption and the current conflicts between the judiciary and the judicial police.

The assessment of the current situation, according to the magistrates, is that it is difficult, and even impossible, to condemn or even bring charges against the people in the current regime, or having direct or indirect relationships with those in power. It must be admitted that there is no independent judiciary in Madagascar for the time being, as the justice ministry is directly related to the executive.

The SMM does everything to establish a high court of justice and an independent judiciary, but the executive’s actions towards the judiciary constitutes real barriers to the accomplishment of that goal. In Madagascar, the President also serves as President of the Supreme Court of the Judiciary. In that way, he rules and decides at the same time. The roundtable dealing with the eradication of corruption took place in a very interactive way, and participants were strongly involved in the discussions.