Lawyers React to Justice Sey's Resignation
The Daily Observer (Banjul)
NEWS
January 28, 2003
Posted to the web January 28, 2003
By Ousman Darboe & Omar Bah
Banjul
Following the resignation of a senior Judge of the High Court, Justice Mam
Yassin Sey, lawyers of the Bar have expressed sadness over her departure,
not least, because according to them, she is the only female judge on the
bench.
Speaking to the Daily Observer at the High Court yesterday, Lawyer Borry
Touray, secretary of The Gambia Bar Association, said the judge's departure
would virtually paralyse the court system which is already thin on the
ground in terms of manpower. "The Court of Appeal still lacks the forum to
sit, the Supreme Court is in the same limbo. Only the High Court is in
active session with only five judges," he lamented.
Lawyer Touray posited that Justice Sey, the most senior judge of the High
Court, who does the bulk of litigation work in court, would be greatly
missed and her departure would rather make proceedings suffer setbacks
before cases due for her desk are transferred to another judge. He added
that Government should try to look into the possible grievances or
difficulties which judges are faced with, which may be prompting their
resignation.
Lawyer Touray, a former magistrate, urged Government to look into the
resignation of Justice Sey and see if the trend her resignation portends
could be addressed.
Justice Sey, he said, was rendering excellent service in the judiciary and
unlike most of her colleagues, she took the challenge to resign from
private practice to join the bench in order to serve her country.
"We are now left with only two Gambian judges at the High Court following
the resignation of Justice Sey. The work load is too much for the small
number of judges and this state of affairs is affecting the public as suits
suffer undue adjournment," Touray said.
Lawyer Ousman Jammeh said the resignation of Justice Sey has created a
vacuum in the bench as she is very hard working. He noted that the
resignation will be a set back for a number of litigants, as Sey was the
only female judge on the Gambian bench.
Many other lawyers reacted similarly to the resignation of Justice Sey,
describing it as a big blow to the entire judiciary.
In a related development, the President of the Gambia Bar Association, Sam
George has called a meeting of his members today where issues relating to
the resignation of Justice Mam Sey are expected to be discussed.
But when he was quizzed, yesterday, to elaborate, he could only say; "We
will be meeting tomorrow. We will be discussing the judiciary. That is all
I can tell you." Meanwhile, only two judges, Justice Grant and Savage sat
yesterday. Both the courts of Justice Itam and Sey were empty and litigants
were left stranded at the court house.
Also, court proceedings are not expected to take place today in view of the
meeting which would take place during court hours.
Though the Bar president did not explain what the agenda will be, judicial
sources told this paper that the meeting is almost certainly going to
centre on the circumstances surrounding the resignation of Justice Mam Sey.
It is also rumoured that her decision to quit may be as a result of certain
grievances.
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