Tripoli, 29 November:
The Supreme Judicial Council has stated its commitment to restructuring the Libyan judicial system to ensure its impartiality and . . .[restrict]independence.
In a statement issued on Wednesday on the Ministry of Justice Website, the council said it endorsed the serious practical steps initiated by the judiciary’s Inspection Department to investigate judges, prosecutors and other judicial members for evidence of malpractice and to bring disciplinary proceedings against them if such evidence was found.
The process of reform is still in its early stages and achieving a full and effective overhaul of Libya’s judicial system is likely to take considerable time. Scrutiny of the judiciary will be high when it comes to ensuring fair trials of former regime loyalists, in particular should high-profile cases such as that of Saif Al-Islam Qaddafi be held in Libya.
Yesterday’s session followed a meeting by the National Committee for the Development of the Judicial System on 12 November, which was attended by the chairman of the Supreme Judicial Council, Judge Kamal Dahan.
Members of the general assemblies of the first courts, the appeal courts, and various others within the judiciary have expressed their unhappiness with the draft law, whilst others have refused it altogether.
They have argued that existing disciplinary laws are sufficient to discipline or exclude members of the judicial system against whom evidence of criminal activity has been proven.
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