The Constitutional Review Committee (CRC) report has recommended the amendment of Article 126 to remove references to “lower courts”.
It proposed that instead, Article 126 should read: “The Judiciary shall comprise the Superior Courts, comprising the Supreme Court, Court of Appeal, and High Court; the Circuit and District Courts, and such other courts or tribunals as Parliament may by law establish.”
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The report said similarly, all references to “Lower Courts” in the Constitution should be reviewed.
With regard to regional tribunals, the Committee recommended that the regional tribunals should be disestablished from the Constitution.
The Committee noted that the High Court has been handling the caseload of the regional tribunals.
It called for the expansion of the jurisdiction of the Circuits to take on some of the cases that the Regional Tribunals would ordinarily hear,” the report said.
However, the Committee has recommended that the Chief Justice should hold the position for a single, non-renewable term of 10 years or upon attaining the age of 70, whichever is earlier.
It proposed that the Chief Justice retire with full entitlements of the office.
It said a Chief Justice whose tenure ends before attaining 70 years could be elected to continue sitting as a Justice of the Supreme Court.
Touching on other Justices of the Superior Courts, the Committee recommended that all Justices of the Superior Courts should hold their tenure until retirement, death, or resignation, whichever comes first.
It said for Justices of the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal, the mandatory retirement age should be 70 years.
It noted that for High Court Justices, the mandatory retirement age should be set at 65.
With regard to the process for the removal of Justices of the Superior Courts, the Committee recommended that the grounds for removal should be the same for all justices.
It said the grounds for removal should include mental or physical incapacity, incompetence, gross misconduct, violation of the judicial code of conduct, or bankruptcy.
With regard to the removal process for the Chief Justice, the Committee proposed that an aggrieved person might submit a confidential petition for the removal of the Chief Justice to the Council of State.
It said that within 7 days of receipt, the Council should refer the petition to its Judicial Committee to determine its prima facie merit.
“If insufficient grounds are found, the petition shall be dismissed. If sufficient, the Council shall notify the President and the Speaker of Parliament,” the report said.
