After last August’s coup, the transitional authorities in Gabon demanded solutions to the problems undermining the justice sector. The ministry launched the project with, in November, a symposium bringing together all the players in the legal world, before creating a working group made up of experts responsible for developing a strategy. RFI was able to obtain a summary of their report which was submitted to the Minister of Justice.
“ The Gabonese judicial system is today at a crossroads », Indicates the expert report. Antiquated and overcrowded prisons, magistrates subservient to political power, slow procedures… Criticisms are recurrent. Gold, ” we now have the opportunity to rethink our system, to look at what is wrong », indicates Juldas Levassath.
The magistrate, deputy director general for civil affairs of the Ministry of Justice, coordinated the working group responsible for drafting this document submitted to the Ministry of Justice, and which should soon arrive on the desk of the Head of State. These approximately 25 experts come from the administrative, judicial and financial orders, not counting auxiliary professions such as clerks or notaries. “ With the coup, a window of opportunity opened to make profound changes. Strong actions are needed. Gabon has texts, but often there is a lack of an application framework, leading to major deviations or problems. “, says Juldas Levassasath.
The Minister of Justice Paul-Marie Gondjout has received the report and should soon submit it to the President of the Republic. “ It is work done in a sincere manner, by the actors of justice themselves, in a form of catharsis “, he said.
Severe diagnosis
In this examination of conscience, the experts therefore first made a diagnosis. And the latter is not gentle. The report thus lists the dysfunctions linked to non-compliance with professional and ethical standards, to institutions, management or structures. The Minister of Justice recognizes that “ the evils are numerous “.
Paul-Marie Gondjout quotes thus pell-mell “ the dilapidation of the courts and courts, the lack of operating resources, the lack of training of professionals, the growing number of bad apples in the system, not to mention the ethical failures in the processing of cases, the ethnicization and politicization in choice of magistrates “. For example, Gabonese judicial institutions are largely inherited from colonization. However, if in France, the system has been revised several times, this has not been the case in Gabon. “ Our last major reform dates from 1994 », points out Juldas Levassath.
One of the major subjects will be to review the functioning of the prosecution and in particular the work of the investigating judge. “ He is judge and party. He investigates, but he also makes the decision to place under arrest warrant. So he doesn’t have enough perspective, since he is the one who instructs. A text is already in the works to create a judge of freedoms and detention who will have to make the decision on incarceration at the request of the judge or the prosecutor. It will in fact be a panel of three judges », Detailed the magistrate.
Furthermore, the investigating judge sometimes manages 500 to 600 cases per year. One of the ways to facilitate its work would be to digitize and digitize procedures. A project which would extend to the entire judicial sector. “ Most procedures are done by hand. In the past, the Libreville court of first instance involved 150 litigants. Today, the figure has multiplied by 10 or 15. With the explosion in the number of files, the structures cannot respond, they have no reliable management mechanism, no digital processing system “, says Juldas Levassath.
Political influence
Another major pitfall, regularly highlighted in Gabonese news, is the influence of politics on the judiciary. The expression “ justice under orders, subservient to power » has been pronounced numerous times by political or civil society actors. “ The constitution already enshrines the independence of the judiciary », specifies Juldas Levassath. “ But it sometimes depends on the people, on their psychological independence. A magistrate may not be free in his mind, free to make an independent decision despite political pressure. Sometimes it takes a strong personality, and the courage to say no. And sometimes it goes against your career », Estimates the magistrate.
The reform thus proposes safeguards to make political interference more difficult. “We are proposing a reform of the governance of the careers of magistrates. But also in their assignments, not to mention that we must rethink the presence of deputies within the Superior Council of the Judiciary », Indicates Juldas Levassath, before insisting on discipline. “ In all corporations, there are mistakes and bad apples. But the most important thing is the presence of a disciplinary framework to sanction or call to order magistrates, but also auxiliary professions, clerks, notaries, etc. », adds the magistrate.
For this last type of profession, again the report recommends change, from the start. Thus, the document recommends more selective access to this type of profession, as well as increased training.
Old prisons
One area of justice in particular was singled out last March: the prison sector. In March, a mission from the UN subcommittee for the prevention of torture carried out an assessment mission to Libreville. His conclusions were final. After visiting detention centers, police stations, gendarmes, etc., the UN observers denounced “ horrible detention conditions “. Their leader, the Moroccan Abdallah Ounnir, pointed out “ the systematic use of detention temporary and its excessively long duration. The fundamental rights of people presumed innocent are thus violated, in particular by the slowness of justice », indicated the UN envoy.
Regarding the management of detentions and sentences, the presidential pardon declared by the president of the transition had allowed a reduction in congestion without resolving the fundamental problems. “ Our prisons need to be reformed, with new structures. Regardless of the nature of the crime, everyone is sent to the same place. However, we need categorized places of detention, prisons for minors for example, which today are detained with adults », recalls Juldas Levassath.
Read alsoUN slams ‘horrible detention conditions’ in Gabon’s prisons
Furthermore, an overhaul of the Criminal Procedure Code was presented to the Council of Ministers. “ The Penal Code is currently under study. There is a commission on all defendants who are beyond the legal period of detention and who must be released. I think that we are making significant efforts to reduce prison overcrowding, which is becoming unsustainable and degrading. », Paul-Marie Gondjout reacted at the time. As for prisons, the Minister of Justice recalls that the expert report recommends “ there construction of modern prisons, adapted to international requirements and the human rights of prisoners. Like ordinary citizens, they are entitled to a certain respect. »
Ultimately, experts hope that the new power, whether during the transition, or after the elections currently scheduled for August 2025, will implement the report’s recommendations. For Juldas Levassath, it is a “ essential reform, because justice must serve citizens, protect their interests. On the other hand, it guarantees economic and social development. When justice is reliable, credible, it is a guarantor of investments, a guarantee of attracting international investors. The authorities understood this. » The magistrate therefore hopes that the changes he advocated with his colleagues will soon see the light of day and that his report will not end up at the bottom of a drawer.