Staff Reporter
THE Judicial Service Commission has explained that it decided to recruit a limited number of foreign judges on fixed-term contracts to serve in the civil stream of the High Court of Namibia in an effort to reduce case backlogs.
“This measure has been carefully considered and is necessary to ensure the continued effective functioning of the Court and to safeguard the administration of justice in the Republic of Namibia. The work of the High Court is organised into two main streams: the criminal stream and the civil stream. The criminal stream has, for many years, been adequately staffed, owing in large part to a steady pool of suitably qualified candidates drawn from the magistracy, where judicial officers predominantly handle criminal matters. The same pool has, however, not always proved suitable for appointments to the civil stream,” Vikitoria Hango, the Commission’s Deputy Director of Public Relations, said.
She explained that magistrates seldom gain the depth of experience in civil procedure or the substantive branches of civil law required for complex civil adjudication in the High Court. Despite consistent interest from magistrates whenever civil-stream vacancies have been advertised, Hango continued, multiple assessment exercises conducted by the Commission over the past seven years have demonstrated that most candidates lack the specialised expertise required for judicial appointment to the civil stream of the High Court.
“In the most recent evaluation, held in August 2025, the Commission received only five nominations. All five candidates were magistrates who were shortlisted and subjected to the Commission’s two-stage evaluation process. None met the minimum pass requirement for the written assessment, with results ranging between 17% and 37%. Accordingly, no candidate was eligible to proceed to the oral interview stage,” Hango added.
She further noted that senior legal practitioners with extensive civil experience have historically been reluctant to accept permanent judicial appointments, making themselves available only occasionally as acting judges. Furthermore, she revealed, appointments of acting judges have provided some relief, but such appointments are inherently limited in duration, with most acting judges available to serve for periods of no more than three months at a time.
“The number of permanent judges in the civil stream has seen a steep decline over the past two years as a result of retirements. The resulting vacancies have remained unfilled. The sustained shortage of suitably qualified candidates has placed an excessive burden on the few permanent judges in the civil stream at a time when the volume and complexity of civil cases have grown significantly. This situation poses a material risk to the timely and effective administration of civil justice and, if left unaddressed, threatens to undermine the Court’s ability to meet its constitutional obligations to the public,” Hango said.
Considering this, she announced that the Commission has resolved to recruit a small number of suitably qualified retired or out-of-service judges from comparable Southern African jurisdictions that share Namibia’s common-law legal tradition.
“The Commission reaffirms its steadfast commitment to the long-term localisation and development of the Namibian judiciary. This temporary measure does not diminish that commitment. It is, rather, a responsible and constitutionally grounded intervention to protect the integrity and effectiveness of the justice system during a period of transition, while permanent solutions mature. The Commission will continue to pursue all available avenues to identify and develop suitably qualified Namibian candidates for appointment to the civil stream of the High Court. The Commission emphasises that Namibian citizens remain the first priority for all judicial appointments,” Hango added.
Picture for illustrative purposes only. Photo: File
