Court system outage nears two months as frustration mounts

A prolonged outage of Namibia's e-justice system is disrupting legal services across the country, delaying the administration of deceased estates, property transfers and other court-related processes, amid growing complaints of a lack of communication and contingency measures.

Fiduciary expert Marike Jacobs said legal professionals first began experiencing problems with the system towards the end of April or early May, with the situation persisting despite assurances that technical teams were working to resolve the issue.

"The worst part for us in the profession is that we understand things happen and there could be electronic issues. The bad thing is that it doesn't seem like there's a backup plan," Jacobs told Namibian Sun on Wednesday.

"We're trying to work on matters that could be urgent to help our clients, some of whom are already in financial difficulties, but there is no hard copy or paperwork backup that they are willing to bring to our attention," she said.

She said the lack of progress has left many clients frustrated and sceptical of explanations.

"The clients don't understand. They believe electronic issues get sorted within a week or two, and that's not the case. We're the ones left sitting with red faces," she said.

The disruptions have affected matters at various stages of administration. Some estates are still awaiting letters of executorship, while others are waiting for liquidation and distribution accounts to be approved, certified copies to be issued, or property transfers to proceed.

Jacobs said her firm alone has about six deceased estates waiting for letters of executorship, preventing executors from carrying out essential duties such as closing accounts, accessing investments and settling estates.

Public concerns

The concerns extend beyond estate administration.

South African legal journalist and writer Carmel Rickard said the outage was particularly troubling because it limits public access to judgments and information that are important for transparency and accountability within the justice system.

"It is very frustrating for people who need access to judgments. For the public, how are they supposed to access judgments to see what the courts are saying?"

Rickard noted that Namibia's judiciary has earned a strong reputation for upholding constitutional principles and the rule of law, making access to judgments particularly important for legal practitioners, journalists and members of the public.

Justice ministry spokesperson Edmund Khoaseb told Namibian Sun on Wednesday that a statement explaining the situation would be released later that afternoon. However, no statement had been issued by yesterday, and follow-up attempts to obtain comment were unsuccessful as Khoaseb indicated he was attending a meeting.

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