Justice delayed is justice denied! This is a common saying that has become accepted by all as a fundamental fact. If, as a litigant, your livelihood was heavily affected by a pending case of yours, yet nothing was done about it, your response could be predictable.

And given the fact that, as in the wording of the release from the Office of the Chief Justice of The Gambia, that "the judiciary is the last bastion of hope for the ordinary citizen," we can all understand the move by the individuals that apparently resorted to sending petitions to the Office of the President. Desperate people are incline to employing desperate moves. This is by no means an argument in defense of anybody, nor is it intended to cast any blame on any individual or group of people. This is simply aimed at setting the issue straight. Our judicial department has a responsibility to meet the needs of litigants.     

Come to think about it, given the stance of the president on matters of injustices, aggrieved Gambians would naturally see his office as a last resort if that "bastion of hope" ceases to serve its purpose.

It is indeed pleasing to note the degree of concern demonstrated, and the level of maturity displayed by the Office of the Chief Justice with regards to this very important matter. If the assurance of the statement released by the CJ’s Office is anything to go by, constitution of a committee that would be responsible for such matters has rekindled some hope for the affected persons.

It must be mentioned, however, that this is not the first time we have heard complaints of delay in judicial matters; it is only that, given the nature of the discipline, ordinary people would normally not be quite keen to speculate on it. Taking advantage of the ignorance of the general mass on matters concerning the law, some members of this profession have succeeded in confining themselves within a barrage of perpetuated concept of assumed supremacy.

The most unfortunate thing about this is that just a negligible fraction of our society is into law; this leaves the greater chunk of the Gambian population at the mercy of this powerful few.  The Department of State for Justice should check into this. Not every Gambian is in defense of our democracy, so we must be ware of saboteurs!