Published on 06.09.2023 at 4:21 p.m. by Journal du Gabon. Com with new Gabon
On strike since January, the magistrates declared this June 8, 2023, the minimum suspension of services in the courts.
Gathered within the National Union of Magistrates of Gabon (Synamag), the magistrates have decided to push the envelope by suspending services. A decision taken with the aim of contesting the draft text on the status of magistrates, the version of which presented to the National Assembly by the Minister of Justice on June 7, according to Synamag, does not correspond to the draft drawn up by consensus between the two parties. « They’is about’a totally different new textIt isrent. The submitted text To l’AssemblIt ise national in the prIt iscipitation relAndcome neither more nor less than d’a provocation of our corporation… As such, we will file today (June 8 Editor’s note) a complaint with civil action before the investigating judge against Mr. Jonas Prosper Lola Mvou in his capacity as Secretary General of the Government and others for false in order to clarify the incredible situation he created by grossly manipulating the bill which was supposed to put an end to certain dysfunctions in the judicial environment », supports Germain Ella Nguema, the president of Synamag. The latter also called on all the magistrates of the courts in the interior of the country to join Libreville for a national consultation of the judiciary.
In reaction to this exit from the magistrates, the Ministry of Justice made a statement in which it condemned this position of Synamag and specified that « conformIt isaccordance with the provisions of the texts in force, the maintenance of’minimum service during pIt isriodes de grAndve is an obligation To which no one can escape ». Moreover, the Ministry of Justice refutes the accusations of the magistrates and maintains that « the text currently under consideration To l’AssemblIt ise national broadly corresponds To l’draft adoptedIt is of handsAndconsensual with Synamag, apart from a few adjustments and some improvements inserted in order to allow an effective application of its various provisions », justifies the Ministry of Justice.
However, the government recalls that within the framework of the legislative process begun, the Synamag has the possibility of presenting its observations and remarks before the two chambers of Parliament which are responsible for adopting the bill in question. From these facts, the government maintains that nothing justifies the maintenance of the current strike movement which paralyzes the judicial system and causes significant harm to all populations.
It should be noted that the magistrates who have been on strike for six months are demanding, among other things, the effective provision of all the heads of jurisdictions with rolling means, the ordering and effective payment of courtroom costumes, the regularization of administrative situations, and the inclusion in the legislative process of the bill on the status of magistrates.
Source: The New Gabon
