Bottlenecks and backlogs continue to undermine the delivery of justice in Namibia – thereby fuelling negative perceptions of the rule of law and the effectiveness of the criminal justice system. Efforts over recent years to introduce case management systems and speed up the handling of cases appear to have only had a minimal effect. Many high-profile corruption cases are affected by these delays. As a result the public are losing confidence in the system’s ability to deliver justice within a reasonable time frame. Such weaknesses go beyond the courts and affect law enforcement and prosecutorial services as well. The public’s perception that the state is struggling to stem the rising tide of corruption is partly due to the dysfunctional justice system.
