`Houses of Justice’ to be set up under security programme – Rohee

The Ministry of Home Affairs together with other agencies has established what it has dubbed ‘houses of justice’ which aims at addressing pressing community problems and assisting persons to access critical government services.

Minister of Home Affairs Clement Rohee at a press conference last week Friday had stated that the ‘houses of justice’ are being established in 25 communities through the Citizens Security Programme with support from the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development.

“The House of Justice is an innovative initiative that introduces a novel approach to conflict resolution, by bringing together, under the same roof, institutions in charge of imparting justice and providing critical social services,” the minister said.

He said it is envisioned that the houses of justice will function as an integrated multi-agency service centre that addresses pressing community social and justice needs, “and improve access to conciliation and other critical government services by low-income people, so as to help resolve their every-day differences, and challenges in accessing critical government services.”

The houses of justice will be located within communities and will aim to quickly resolve cases through conciliatory routes rather than the formal judicial system.

“This high-speed approach will increase access to justice, and remove any frustration citizens may perceive in obtaining social and legal services,” the minister said in his statement.

He said the initiative along with several other interventions undertaken in the sector will form part of the modern social infrastructure to improve public security.