Malawi courts suspend non urgent cases over Covid-19 cases rise

Judiciary says courts will now hear urgent cases because of the rising number of Covid-19 cases which now stands at over 350.

Judiciary spokesperson Agnes Patemba said the decision has been arrived at to protect staff, court users and people from the deadly disease.

“We will now be attending to urgent matters as a measure to prevent covid-19,” she said.

Some of the cases that have stalled include parliamentary election challenges of Mangochi-Monkey Bay, Nsanje south and Nsanje north.

Malawi Law Society president Burton Mhango said the scaling down of operations of the courts will have a huge negative impact on the delivery of justice in the country.

He therefore suggested that the Judiciary, the society and other stakeholders should meet to map the way forward.