Justice in limbo: Courts paralyzed by judge’s retirement pay dispute
‘MATHATO SEBOKA
MASERU – Retired Justice Tšeliso Monaphathi’s benefits fight freezes hundreds of cases, deepening the country’s worrying court backlog crisis – the High Court of Lesotho is grappling with a severe paralysis, leaving hundreds of citizens in agonizing legal limbo.
The resignation of Justice Keketso Moahloli and the retirement of Justice Monaphathi have created a massive backlog, now critically worsened by a bitter dispute between Justice Monaphathi and Chief Justice Sakoane over retirement benefits.
A planned solution to reassign their unfinished cases has collapsed, directly due to Monaphathi’s lawsuit, trapping plaintiffs and defendants in a justice system struggling to function.
Justice Moahloli’s resignation and Justice Monaphathi’s retirement from the Lesotho High Court bench were significant losses. Their departures weren’t merely about vacant seats, they left behind a staggering mountain of unresolved work crucial to citizens’ lives and livelihoods.
On June 18, High Court Registrar Advocate ‘Mathato Sekoai laid bare the scale of the crisis in a public notice. The numbers were stark: Before Justice Monaphathi remained nine cases part-heard (mid-trial) and a daunting 107 cases pending judgment – meaning evidence was complete, but no final ruling issued. Before Justice Moahloli stood 18 cases part-heard and 84 cases awaiting judgment.
Collectively, this represented 218 cases abruptly halted. These aren’t abstract statistics, they encompass commercial disputes, family conflicts, property battles, criminal appeals and personal injury claims. For the individuals and businesses involved, justice was abruptly suspended.
Recognizing the urgency, the High Court administration, under Chief Justice Sakoane’s direction, devised a crucial plan. Registrar Sekoai announced that all unresolved cases from the two departed judges would be reallocated to new judges.
Critically, these cases would need to be heard afresh.
This meant parties who had already invested significant time, money and emotional energy into their hearings would have to start the entire process over – a bitter but necessary pill to clear the logjam and provide any path forward.
The vital reallocation exercise was scheduled for August 4, This roll call was the first step towards assigning new judges and getting these frozen cases moving again. It represented a glimmer of hope for hundreds of frustrated litigants.
That hope was dashed, and the reallocation did not happen. The reason?
Justice Monaphathi’s lawsuit against Chief Justice Sakoane.
Following his retirement, Chief Justice Sakoane took the extraordinary step of withholding Justice Monaphathi’s terminal benefits – his retirement package. The Chief Justice’s position was clear, that these benefits would only be released once Monaphathi completed writing judgments for all cases pending before him at retirement.
This action underscores the immense pressure on the judiciary to manage its backlog and ensure judges finalize their work.
Justice Monaphathi, however, fiercely contested this.
He filed a constitutional case challenging the Chief Justice’s authority to withhold his retirement entitlements. Crucially, he filed this case after the public notice about the August 4 reallocation was issued.
This timing proved catastrophic for the case reallocation plan. As Registrar Advocate Sekoai explained, the Chief Justice could not proceed with the August 4 roll call because the act of reallocating Monaphathi’s cases now directly touches upon matters central to Monaphathi’s own lawsuit against the Chief Justice.
Specifically, the reallocation implicitly involves accepting that Monaphathi is retired and will not be completing the judgments – which is the very condition upon which his benefits are withheld.
This makes the reallocation sub judice – a legal principle meaning a matter is under judicial consideration and cannot be publicly debated or acted upon in a way that might prejudice the ongoing case.
“The Chief Justice failed to proceed . . . because following the notice for the August 4 roll call Justice Monaphathi filed his constitutional case… which makes all subsequent matters related to his case sub judice,” Advocate Sekoai stated. She added frankly, “Justice Monaphathi filed the case after the notice had been made, so we cannot be able to proceed but we have to wait for the legal process to end. The case by Monaphathi has tied our hands.”
The human cost of this legal impasse is immense and devastating, plaintiffs and defendants, already waiting months or years for resolution, now face indefinite further delays. Cases already heard in part must restart from zero.
Restarting cases means incurring legal fees, witness expenses and court costs all over again. For many, this is financially ruinous.
Litigants trapped in disputes over custody, property, contracts, or personal injury suffer prolonged anxiety, uncertainty and distress. Justice delayed is justice denied, impacting mental well-being and life planning. Again, the visible paralysis of the court system, where a dispute over a judge’s pay halts hundreds of cases, severely damages public confidence in the judiciary’s ability to deliver timely justice.
The perception of judges prioritizing personal benefits over the public’s right to a resolution is deeply corrosive.
In response to the debacle, the High Court has implemented new rules aimed at preventing a recurrence. Advocate Sekoai revealed strict new timelines for delivering judgments, High Court Judges must deliver written judgments within 90 days (3 months) of a case being heard. Magistrates must deliver judgments within 30 days (1 month).
“There is no way we will find ourselves in such a predicament again,” Sekoai asserted. “Judges and magistrates are now required to have finalized written judgments in their cases within 90 days… We now have guidelines on how long judgments should take to be delivered.”
Chief Justice Sakoane has publicly assured that the unfinished cases will eventually be reallocated and heard afresh, emphasizing the commitment to “justice and fairness.” However, this assurance offers little immediate solace to those currently trapped. The timeline for resolution hinges entirely on the outcome of Monaphathi’s constitutional challenge.
Until that case is decided, the 218 cases – and the lives intertwined with them – remain frozen.
The resignations of Justices Moahloli and Monaphathi exposed a critical vulnerability in Lesotho’s judicial system. The subsequent legal battle over retirement benefits has tragically weaponized that vulnerability, turning a significant backlog into a near-total paralysis for hundreds of citizens desperately seeking resolution.
The new judgment deadlines are a necessary reform, but for those caught in the current gridlock, the path to justice remains frustratingly blocked, highlighting the profound human cost when judicial administration becomes entangled in personal dispute.
The resolution of Monaphathi’s case cannot come soon enough for those whose access to justice hangs in the balance.
