Maseru
Honourable Richard Ramoeletsi, Minister of Justice and Law, presided over a pre-legislative orientation session of the Public Cluster Portfolio Committee on the Bail Bill of 2024. The session aimed to furnish the committee members with a comprehensive understanding of the Bail Bill in advance of its formal presentation to the National Assembly.
He emphasized the significance of knowledge within society, emphasizing that it is imperative for individuals to comprehend the concept of bail within legal contexts to gain a comprehensive understanding of this facet of the law. He underscored that in legal parlance, bail stands as a pivotal element enabling arrested individuals to secure their release, adhering to the fundamental principle that individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
The Minister also pointed that some of the challenges faced by the court of laws remains high number of cases that they have to process while having limited resources. Therefore, the bill proposes that the Lesotho Mounted Police Services shall be taking over minor offenses, to help deal with bail cases.
In a parallel vein, Everest Ramakatsa, Chairperson of the Parliament’s Law and Public Safety Committee, underscored Basotho citizens’ apprehensions regarding the regulatory frameworks governing their lives. He emphasized the universal indispensability of laws, highlighting that the absence of justice often precipitates societal discord, loss of lives, and economic decline.
The Chairperson went on to say that people commit the most heinous crimes, such as murder, and that after a person is brought to court and granted bail, Basotho get hostile when they see such persons in their communities.
Find more news:
Mofomobe, SECTION 2 call for Gvt to subsidise commodities
“Cases take a very long time in the court of laws, and that makes people taking laws into their own hands which is illegal,” he said showing the importance of lifting much heavy work from the court of laws.
Similarly, regarding bail laws, Ramakatsa reminded that Lesotho has been operating with outdated laws such as far as Bail is concerned. Other people eventually brag of how they are untouchable even the courts cannot do anything about it, pointing at the weaknesses of courts.
He said working on re-evaluating laws so that they are relevant to today’s world is important. He went on to make an example of a recent case where police were working tirelessly to arrest a drug dealer who was selling drugs to minors, only to be released by bail worth M20.
Ramakatsa stated that there are fewer employees in the courts of law which is also a challenge. However, the review will help find solutions to the existing problems.
