Owen Nyaka, AfricaNews reporter in Lilongwe, Malawi
The United States Ambassador to Malawi Peter Bodde has hailed the Commercial Court Division of the Malawi High Court for among other things improving the process of settling business related disputes.
Speaking when he presented $100 000 worth of reference materials, computers and internet service equipment to the court’s library in the city of Blantyre, Ambassador Bodde underscored the need for the state of the art equipment and books which he said “is one step toward ensuring better practices in rule of law and transparency.”
He added that an understandable and transparent commercial legal framework is an absolute requirement for the new investment that will drive the economic development in Malawi saying “it matters to the local business person or investor that can count on a predictable and level playing field on which to compete for business”
Ambassador Bodde expressed the hope that library resources provided would strengthen Malawi’s commercial legal system and benefit the private sector, particularly in attracting new investment. He said the equipment would assist in reducing the number of backlogged cases, expedite business-related cases, and provide quick reference and research resources.
In his remarks, Judge In-Charge of the Division Justice Frank Kapanda said the overriding objective of the Commercial Court was to deal with commercial matters expeditiously and justly and that for the court to achieve this, there was need for the use of new technologies. He praised the United States Government for the donation which he said will go a long way to instill people’s confidence in the court.
Malawi Government established the Commercial Courts Division in 2007 as part of efforts to improve the business climate and attract potential investors. The court was intended to expedite hearings and determinations of commercial cases following concerns that political issues were taking precedence over commercial and business matters and sometimes commercial cases were taking as long as two to three years before getting resolved.
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