Book on Seychelles Court of Appeal Judgments Published

The Bar Association of Seychelles, on their website, has welcomed the publication of the latest book on Seychelles law - "Leading Cases of Seychelles 1988 - 2010". The publication of the book was the initiative of Professor Angelo of Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. Professor Angelo is no stranger to the Seychelles legal scene, he co-authored one of the most popular books on Seychelles case law - "The Law of Seychelles Through the Cases", more commonly referred to in the Seychelles legal community simply as the "Venchard" book, it was a compilation of selected judgments from the Seychelles superior courts from 1936 to 1996. The latest book also has a foreword written by the President of the Court of Appeal, Justice MacGregor, who traces the history of Seychelles case law books.

This latest book is a compilation of summaries of selected decisions of the Seychelles Court of Appeal from 1988 to 2010. It does not contain the actual judgments and it does not pretend to do so. But the summaries of the facts and principles of some of the cases therein are not presented accurately. Court users and students of Seychelles law must use this latest book with care.

Nevertheless, publications on Seychelles law are always a welcome thing given the lack materials on the matter. The website of the Bar Association of Seychelles has a Law Journals page in which materials on Seychelles law are made available to the public. Presently, the Law Journal only has a handful of articles but it boasts of articles from the much revered Andre Sauzier and Philippe Boulle.

  

The Robing Room is the official blog of the Seychelles Legal Environment Website (sites.google.com/site/theseychelleslegalenvironment), the only website about the Seychelles Legal Environment that is constantly updated.

Derjacques Re-Elected as Chairman of the Bar Association of Seychelles

The Bar Association of Seychelles ("BAS") held its 2010 Annual General Meeting ("AGM") earlier today (6th October 2010) at the Supreme Court Building.

Members of BAS displayed their support for the previous year's Management Committee by re-electing several of its officers. Below is the list of the newly elected Management Committee of BAS:

Chairman: Mr Antony Derjacques

Secretary: Mr Divino Sabino

Treasurer: Miss Teresa Micock

Executive Officers: Mr Frank Ally & Mr Elvis Chetty

The Chairman expressed his delight in being able to hold true to the key issues that his committee promised to undertake in the previous year, such as the setting up of the BAS website and the holding of the BAS "Annual" Dinner (in December 2009) for the first time since 2005, a dinner which saw an excellent turnout from members of the private bar and judiciary. For the coming year, the new Management Committee has been mandated, inter alia, to draft and circulate a Code of Ethics for lawyers and to forge working relationships with more local and international organizations.

The Robing Room is the official blog of the Seychelles Legal Environment Website (sites.google.com/site/theseychelleslegalenvironment), the only website about the Seychelles Legal Environment that is constantly updated.

2010 Re-Opening of the Supreme Court

The Re-Opening of the Supreme Court took place this morning. The event marks the end of the Supreme Court vacations, which lasts from the entire month of August until today. During the vacations, only criminal matters and civil cases of an urgent nature are heard.

As is customary, the ceremony starts with a church service, this year this took place at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. The theme of the church service was that the Judiciary is a servant of the people. Thereafter the judges, magistrates, court officers, attorneys, other court advocates and staff proceed to the Supreme Court premises in conjunction with the National Brass Band. At the Supreme Court, as is customary, the Chief Justice then delivers an address to mark the occasion.

To start off his address, Chief Justice Egonda-Ntende stated that the problems with the judiciary were far worse than what he had thought when he made his address a year ago, back then, he had been the Chief Justice for only 3 weeks. Although he insinuated that the problems with the judiciary will require more time to be dealt with, he stated that things are improving. In particular, after reciting a handful of statistics on cases being disposed of, he remarked that in the past year, far more cases were being disposed of compared to the previous years. However, he stated that there is still a backlog of cases dating from the year 2000 and that this was unacceptable. He stressed that judges will prioritize older cases and partially heard cases in order to deal with this. He also mentioned that the hearing of cases should take place in consecutive days until disposed of, and if not possible, then they should be adjourned to a date not too far in the future. He also mentioned that judges will reserve a particular half-day from their weekly schedules to deal with motions, petitions, interlocutory matters not expected to last more than half an hour each. This will free up the court's time to deal with the hearings/trials as scheduled.

As part of his continuing reforms, he mentioned that new sets of audio recording equipment were brought in to the Supreme Court late in 2009 and that the new equipment has been functional since March 2010. And that this has helped improve the speed in which transcripts can be typed and produced in written form to the public.

He also mentioned that he expects the construction work on the new Supreme Court Building at Ile du Port, sponsored by the Chinese Government, which will house the Seychelles Court of Appeal and Supreme Court, to commence shortly. Mention was also made of the construction of 4 more court rooms in the current vicinity of the Supreme Court. He also mentioned that new Magistrates would have to be sourced from abroad given that there appears to be a lack of interest from the local attorneys, and that it will take at least 7 years before the University of Seychelles can produce a Magistrate (3 year law degree, 1 year for the bar exams, 2 years pupillage and there is a policy that Magistrates should have at least 1 year of practice as an attorney). He stated that he expects to double the number of Magistrates from 4 to 8 within the next 2 years. With regards to the jurisdiction of the Magistrates' Courts, he mentioned that the law will have to be amended to increase the monetary jurisdiction of the Magistrates. Currently, Magistrates may entertain claims up to SR 25,000 (around USD 2,000) in value. Above that and claims must be filed before the Supreme Court, even the most simplest and basic debt cases. The Chief Justice proposed that Magistrates be able to hear claims of up to SR 250,000 (around USD 20,000) and that Senior Magistrates hear claims of up to SR 350,000 (about USD 30,000) in value. This will alleviate the workload of the Supreme Court.

Mention was made of the creation of a High Level Committee with the judiciary and various stakeholder as a forum for other bodies to be able to communicate their concerns and suggestions directly to the judiciary. The Chief Justice also stated that he has had several meetings with the Bar Association and that he shall continue to consult with members of the legal profession.

The Chief Justice also stated that several laws were made in a bygone era and need to be revised. He mentioned that the Civil Procedure Code will have to be revised. He also mentioned that decisions of the superior courts are now available online and that a volume of law reports from 1991 to 1996 will be published shortly. He mentioned that another volume for cases from 1997 to 2010 is in the works.

The Chief Justice also mentioned the setting of time standards for the disposal of cases. Standards that the judges will seek to enforce. For example, he mentioned that civil cases must be disposed of within 24 months from the date of filing, and the criminal cases must be disposed of within 12 months from the date of filing. Shorter time frames were given for interlocutory motions and petitions for judicial review. 

Thereafter those present were invited to refreshments. Many in the profession agreed that the rate of cases being disposed of has improved tremendously, but it will take a while longer to clear the massive backlog. Many believe that Chief Justice Egonda-Ntende is on the right track. But there was concern on the separating of the physical locations of the Magistrates Courts from the Supreme Courts and whether by increasing the monetary jurisdiction of the Magistrates to such a high amount, this would eventually clog up the Magistrates' Courts.

At the start of his address the Chief Justice made an analogy that if the judiciary had been a medical patient, that in the past year, under his stewardship, it had survived from the Intensive Care Unit. Of course, this does not mean that it has been released from the ICU. 

The Robing Room is the official blog of the Seychelles Legal Environment Website (sites.google.com/site/theseychelleslegalenvironment), the only website about the Seychelles Legal Environment that is constantly updated.

Shortage of Legal Professionals?

A Tanzanian online news website - The Citizen, has reported that the Seychelles Judiciary intends to source for judges and lawyers from Tanzania. The article may be read by clicking here.

The article states that Seychelles intends to bring in Tanzanian legal personnel to help in its fight against piracy. The article quotes Seychelles Chief Justice Egonda-Ntende as stating that Seychelles needs more judges. However, the source for the need for more lawyers is not stated.

Recently, the Nation advertised vacancies for two Magistrates. The Robing Room has also learned that several attorneys have been approached for these posts but most, if not all, have not shown serious interest. Although the salary of Magistrates have become more competitive, their work schedule is hectic and they do not have much of the perks that most, if not all judges and justices are allowed e.g. car and chauffeur, apparent unlimited fuel allowance, security personnel. Some attorneys are also concerned that there is no guarantee of any career progression were they to accept a post of a Magistrate. It has been noted that the very best Magistrates, especially those that show independence from the executive, are never elevated to the Supreme Court or Court of Appeal.

With regards to lawyers, there are strict rules prescribed by law on being able to practice in Seychelles. Apart from three very particular circumstances (the ad hoc court advocate, the State Counsel/Public Prosecutor and the distasteful international business legal advisor), one will have to possess the necessary qualifications and undergo a two year pupillage at an approved law chamber in order to qualify as an attorney-at-law and practice law in Seychelles. There can be no short-cuts on the law when it comes to qualifying. No other country allows it. And it would be another poorly planned venture of the Government if they sought to change the law to allow foreigners to qualify more easily (or even automatically) as Seychelles attorneys and then simultaneously invest into the University of Seychelles to train tomorrow's attorneys, magistrates and judges, and the Robing Room has learned that there will be about 30 students enrolling into the University of Seychelles' law degree programme (in fact it is the University of London External LLB programme), which is to commence this October. Yep, let's train a large number of lawyers, take up at least 4 years of their lives doing so, and then there'll be no work for them later thanks to all these foreigners.

And some wonder why xenophobia is in the air...

Luckily, the last time an elite few tried to change the law on qualifying as a Seychelles attorney, making it even easier for foreigners rather than Seychellois to qualify as Seychelles attorneys, the Bar Association of Seychelles and certain powers in the Government put a stop to such nonsense.

The Robing Room is the official blog of the Seychelles Legal Environment Website (sites.google.com/site/theseychelleslegalenvironment), the only website about the Seychelles Legal Environment that is constantly updated.

Keeping Up Standards

In today's Nation there is an article whereby the Central Bank of Seychelles is warning the public about pamphlets that are being circulated in Seychelles advertising banking and insurance services from an entity which is, according to the Central Bank, not licensed to carry out banking or insurance services in Seychelles. The article goes on to state that an offence may have been committed.

It is good to see that at least some authorities are doing their job in policing licensable activity. The Legal Practitioner's Act ("LPA") makes it an offence for anyone to represent themselves as being able to provide legal services in Seychelles if they are not appropriately qualified.

For example, this practice of Government Departments/Ministries and parastatals having legal officers who actually give legal advice or draft contracts would fall foul of the law if they are not appropriately qualified. The Government should be addressing all legal queries to the Attorney General's Chambers/Department of Legal Affairs. Then there are the corporate service providers, entities that establish and maintain International Business Companies. Although some do other work as well, the reality is that the bulk of their work is clerical in nature, but some are calling themselves law firms and some of their employees even believe that they are lawyers and are calling themselves such, obviously in breach of the LPA. The worst part is that many of these corporate service providers blatantly advertise themselves as being able to provide legal services and nothing is done by the authorities to stop and punish such acts.

Fortunately, there is no prescription period or time bar to prosecute individuals who commit a criminal offence. Individuals may be imprisoned for up to 5 years if found guilty of the offence of representing themselves as being able to provide legal services in Seychelles.


The Robing Room is the official blog of the Seychelles Legal Environment Website (sites.google.com/site/theseychelleslegalenvironment), the only website about the Seychelles Legal Environment that is constantly updated.

Seychelles Court of Appeal Judgments Online

Selected Seychelles Court of Appeal Judgments are now available online. This is through the website of the Southern Africa Legal Information Institute. Earlier in the year, selected judgments of the Supreme Court of Seychelles were made available online through the same website.

As of today, there are 51 judgments of the Court of Appeal available online. These are judgments made from 2004 to 2009. As of today, 270 Supreme Court Judgments are also available, these range from 2004 to 2010.

As stated earlier, these are selected judgments. It is not known what criteria was used by the Judiciary in deciding which judgments are made available online.


The Robing Room is the official blog of the Seychelles Legal Environment Website (sites.google.com/site/theseychelleslegalenvironment), the only website about the Seychelles Legal Environment that is constantly updated.

A Code of Conduct for Judges

Finally! Slowly but surely, Chief Justice Egonda-Ntende is paving the way for a judiciary that the public can have some confidence in. On the 22nd of July 2010, the Chief Justice launched the Seychelles Code of Judicial Conduct, a 15-page document outlining the principles in which Judges must conduct their duties.

In the launch event, held at the STC Conference Room, before several eminent guests, including Vice-President Danny Faure and Deputy Speaker Wilby Lucas, the Chief Justice stated that the public has lost its confidence in the judiciary and that the Code of Conduct may help bring back some confidence by giving the public a better idea on what to expect from judges.

The Code of Conduct has some key principles that all judges must abide to, and these are: Independence, Impartiality, Integrity, Propriety, Equality, Competence and Diligence. The Code of Conduct also makes it clear who should conduct their duties in line with the Code and these are all the Justices of Appeal, Judges of the Supreme Court, Masters, Registrars, Magistrates and any other person exercising judicial authority. This means even the chairpersons and members of tribunals, such as the Family Tribunal and the Employment Tribunal.

How You Can Help

It is not entirely clear what sanction or punishment may be levied at a judicial officer for breaching the code, but it is unequivocal that they should be reported for their breaches. Justices of Appeal and Judges of the Supreme Court should be reported to the Constitutional Appointments Authority, who may initiate an investigation into the matter and has the power to constitute a committee to decide upon the removal of the Justice or Judge. In the same vein, Magistrates may be reported to the Chief Justice and Chairpersons/members of tribunals and boards should be reported to their respective Ministries and perhaps complaints should also be copied to the Ombudsman, who is in charge of investigating maladministration within the Government. And if all else fails or at the same time as you make the above complaints, perhaps you should also report unethical behaviour to the press, the IMF (economic development and investor confidence are influenced by public/investor confidence in the judiciary), the Bar Association of Seychelles and the Robing Room.

Interesting Paragraphs in the Code

Paragraph 1.1 states that "A Judge shall exercise the judicial function independently... free of any direct or indirect extraneous influences, inducements, pressures, threats or interference".

Paragraph 1.2 states that "A Judge shall reject any attempt arising from outside the proper judicial process, to influence the decision in any matter before the Judge for judicial decision." This has huge consequences, because it would mean that certain judges will now have to learn about proper admissibility of evidence in court.

Paragraph 2.4 states that "A Judge shall refrain from participating in any proceedings in which the [impartiality] of the Judge might reasonably be questioned. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, a Judge shall disqualify himself or herself from participating in any proceedings... where the Judge has personal knowledge of the disputed facts concerning the proceedings and which knowledge is likely to influence or prejudice his judgment; [or] ... where a member of the Judge's family [which includes in-laws and any close relative], employee or friend is representing a litigant, is a party, or has interest in the outcome of the matter in controversy, in the proceedings."

Para 3.1: "A Judge shall respect and uphold the laws of the country."

Para 5.1: "A Judge shall not in the performance of judicial duties, be biased or prejudiced towards any person or group on basis of unjust discrimination."

Para 6.1: "A Judge shall endeavour to maintain and enhance knowledge, skill... necessary for the proper and competent performance and discharge of judicial duties."

It is not clear where members of the public may obtain a complete copy of the Seychelles Code of Judicial Conduct, whose publication has been funded in full or in part by the UNDP. But this is a document that must be made more widely available to the public. The problems with the judiciary is not only due to the system, but also to some of the judicial officers behind it, getting them to behave is the next best thing to having them removed.

The Robing Room is the official blog of the Seychelles Legal Environment Website (sites.google.com/site/theseychelleslegalenvironment), the only website about the Seychelles Legal Environment that is constantly updated.