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DEFINITION

DEFINITION. Fast Track Courts are a category of special courts within a Judiciary or Court System that have exclusive or specialized jurisdiction over an area of law or deal with a distinctive case load and/or have specifically defined powers or first track procedures.

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DEFINITION

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  1. DEFINITION • Fast Track Courts are a category of special courts within a Judiciary or Court System that have exclusive or specialized jurisdiction over an area of law or deal with a distinctive case load and/or have specifically defined powers or first track procedures.

  2. First instance (trial) and/or Appellate Courts. • Temporary or Permanent. • Accelerated or summary or expeditious trial procedures, including on control and management of cases. • Rely on improved Case Management Systems and Court business processes.

  3. TYPES AND MODELS OF FIRST TRACK COURTS

  4. GENDER BASED VIOLENCE – EASTERN AND SOUTHERN AFRICA

  5. LAW ENFORCEMENT AND STATUS OF GENDER JUSTICE • Unreported and underreported crimes • Poorly investigated • In adequate forensic/Medical/DNA evidence • Non-diligent prosecutions • Low conviction rates and high acquittal rates • Delayed trials and Appeals (second and repeated victimization)

  6. Outdated rules of procedure and evidence • Disproportionate and in effective sentencing • Non sensitive law enforcement court personel • Non responsive and non-perfoming court system • Non victim or survivor centred justice.

  7. FAST TRACK COURTS – FOR (i) A demonstration of the judiciary’s commitment to end sexual and gender based violence; • Alleviation of the general or ordinary caseload burden/decongestion of ordinary courts; (iii) Promotes specialization and profesionalization; (iv) Opportunity for improved professionalism; (v) Enhances Judicial efficiency and effectivenes (high case disposal rate, expeditious trials and appeals) (vi) Assures consistency and predictability.

  8. “It is operating as a well-oiled machine” (South Africa Justice Department Spokesperson on FIFA 2012 world Cup Special Courts)

  9. FAST TRACK COURTS – AGAINST (1) Exhorbitant and high costs; (2)Questionable value for money; (3) Lead to Judicial isolation- “To specialize is also to segregate” (Emily, S.J.D; Creating A Domestic violence Court - Guidelines and Best Practices, 2002). (4) Limited caseload; (5)Narrow subject matter and lowers profesional stature of Judges; (6) Offers non comprehensive remedy; (7) Institutional compartmentalization and Fragmentation of Judiciary.

  10. AN ALTERNATIVE: HYBRID COURT SYSTEMS – GENDER JUSTICE( Kampala Declaration on SGBV, 2012) • Establishment /and strengthening Special Courts (Fast Track) to handle SGBV cases; or/and; • Use of existing Court systems to organise “special sessions” on SGBV cases; and/or; • Establishment of Mobile Courts; • Prescribing time-frame for SGBV investigations and trials not exceeding six (6) months; and/or • Ensuring access to justice for SGBV victims and survivors • Reform of procedurals and the law of evidence.

  11. CONCLUSIONS A sea change and paradigm shift in the Judiciary’s delivery of services, particularly of Gender Justice and the adjudication of serious crimes/human rights abuses.

  12. “Ordinary courts, the mainstream of the Judicial System, are not fully performing their function. If we try to strengthen the secondary stream without the first strengthening the mainstream, there will be little hope of success. Even if Special Courts are created in a high handed way, it will only revert in drying up both the mainstream and the secondary stream, so long as the mainstream is left as it is”. • Source: Dean, M. The Japanese Legal System, p. 380

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