Between truth and accusation: Why is the Yemeni justice system slow to finalize the cases?

Yemen

Yamanat

The question is frequently asked in Yemeni society, on the lips of citizens and ordinary people, as well as in the conversations of the elite and those who follow public affairs: why are cases not decided by Yemeni courts in a timely manner, as is the case in a number of Arab and foreign countries? Why do questions of inheritance, land and rent remain unresolved for decades, and sometimes even several generations?

It is a legitimate question, arising from the fire of reality, but it is – often – asked in an abstract or emotional way, without knowing the truth about the painful and complex reality that the Yemeni judicial system experiences, and about the circumstances beyond the control of the judge, and even the will of justice itself.

Therefore, in order to raise public awareness and put the points on the letters far from any justification, depreciation or self-flagellation, we present the following most salient facts:

First of allA huge burden for the judge in an environment where resources are almost non-existent.
The Yemeni judge is asked to accomplish alone what ten or twenty judges from other countries can accomplish.
The judge works without a judicial assistant, without an adequate secretariat, without computers or an electronic network, and often in dilapidated or partially destroyed buildings and without services.
He is a judge, bailiff, administrative analyst and the only actor in a system supposed to be integrated.

secondly: A catastrophic shortage of judicial and administrative staff
In many Yemeni courts, there is just one judge who hears thousands of cases every year, at a grueling pace that exhausts him mentally and physically, and even affects the quality of decisions.
A secretary is responsible for editing, transcribing and documenting hundreds of decisions each week.
A single legal notary is responsible for delivering legal documents in remote areas without transport or fees.
The result: procedural slowness resulting from functional bottlenecks, not negligence or corruption.

Third: Almost total absence of operating expenses
How can a court function without a budget? Without paper? Without inks? Without fuel?
Many court employees buy their work tools with their modest salaries, and some of them print or take photos from their mobile phones, in an administrative farce that does not befit the prestige of the judiciary.
Justice cannot be administered gratuitously, nor demanded that it be produced in light of institutional collapse.

Fourth: Generalized legal ignorance among litigants
Many opponents arrive in courtrooms without understanding the simplest rules of procedure, so they absent themselves from sessions, present random defenses and repeat the dispute in new forms after each decision, which confuses the judge and distracts from the efforts of justice.
Rational litigation cannot be built on ignorance, but rather on a legal awareness that goes hand in hand with the importance of the law itself.

FifthJudicial decisions are made and not enforced
Even after the judge’s efforts and the judgment, the court is surprised by the reality of:
Weak judicial police.
Negligence in the execution of orders.
Absence of coercive mechanisms to apply penalties.
A decision that is not applied by the State is of no use, and a law has no value without an executive power that protects its prestige.

Sixth: Low and unfair salaries for the judiciary and employees
Demanding determination, justice, independence and integrity from a judge, and then granting him a salary that does not exceed subsistence level, and without job protection, transportation or health insurance, is an unequal division, an unbalanced balance and an injustice at the heart of a system meant to eliminate injustice.

So… who is responsible? What is the solution?
The solution does not come from the judge, but from the State, from institutions, from political will.

Judicial reform is not achieved by blaming judges, but by rebuilding the justice system from its roots.

The most realistic solutions possible
Appoint a sufficient number of judges and administrators based on the volume of cases.
Qualify existing staff and update their skills through regular judicial training programs.
Allocate actual operational expenses to courts, including paper, printing, fuel, documentation tools, transportation and protection teams.
Introduce a digital justice system that connects courts and reduces the accumulation of paper time.
Oblige police and executive agencies to implement court orders and decisions within specified deadlines and dates, without dilution or procrastination.
Integrate early legal education into programs and the media, in order to raise public awareness of the rights and duties of litigation.

An essential word
The Yemeni judge is not the obstructionist, but rather the first to suffer from this exhausting reality.
Justice in Yemen is not dead, but it is wounded, overwhelmed and working in the darkness of a system that never believed in it.
The solution does not lie in abstract criticism, but in the adoption of a serious national project aimed at building a respectable, independent and efficient judicial system, honored and not humiliated.

Source: Yemeni legal and judicial portal on Telegram

Yemen