The Lord Chief Justice (CJ) of England and Wales Lord Burnett of Maldon has warned that difficult, vulnerable and expensive court dispute resolutions lead to businesses fleeing.

He said this when he delivered a public lecture at University of Malawi on Friday as part of his undertakings during his visit in the country.

Burnett said: “Where judges deliver accessible, impartial, and high-quality dispute resolution, businesses will flock. Where litigation is difficult, expensive or vulnerable to external influences, they will flee.

“A survey conducted by the Bingham Centre for the Rule of Law and Hogan Lovells found that 95 percent of businesses identified a lack of corruption as an essential or very important factor whether they would do business in a jurisdiction.”

In the presentation titled Judicial Independence and Accountability in the 21st Century: Challenges and Opportunities, he pointed out that an independent judiciary is a potent engine for prosperity.

“A commitment to the rule of law overseen by an independent judiciary has underpinned the economic growth of societies across the world for the last three hundred years,” he added.

His advice comes as the country is wooing investors to boost its staggering economy characterised by foreign exchange shortages and shrinking export parameters.

Burnett called upon judges to align themselves to the constitutional requirements to achieve impartiality.

He said: “With judicial power must come judicial restraint. Judges who do not observe the proper boundaries of their constitutional role will soon lose their authority and then their independence”

The Chief Justice further challenged the judges to ensure fairness no matter how unpopular the decisions maybe.

“Judges must have moral courage…to make decisions that will be unpopular whether with politicians or the media, or indeed the public, and perhaps most important of all, to defend the right to equality and fair treatment,” he said.

The lecture was attended by senior officials from the justice sector, faculty staff and students. Malawi Law Society president Patrick Mpaka was among the attendees.

In a response to our questionnaire yesterday, he rallied behind the lecture’s linking the country’s economic growth to an independent judiciary.

“When the law is followed the judiciary of a country fairly, timely and predictably resolves disputes, that compels compliance which results in economic growth.

“But if matters are held up in courts for ages, capital is held up, investors shun an economy and underdevelopment is assured,” Mpaka said.

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