ACCESS TO JUSTICE IN CAMEROON

by
METIEGE DIVINE NJIKANG

INTRODUCTION
Cameroon has a unique legal system which is reminiscent of its colonial past. It is referred to as a bi-jural country because during the colonial administration, the French introduced civil law in what was then East Cameroon while the English introduced the common law in what was then West Cameroon; this alludes to the dual application of the French and English legal traditions.
Since independence the Cameroon government has been putting efforts to unify the legal system. In substantive criminal law, Cameroon has a single Penal Code and recently it has unified its criminal procedure pursuant to law No. 2005/007 of 27th July 2005, on the Criminal Procedure Code. Cameroon unified the common law and the civil law so far as criminal justice is concern. There are other sectoral uniform laws with criminal provisions, such as the Highway Code, the Land Tenure Ordinance, the Forestry Wildlife and Fishery laws, Environmental management code and the Mining Code.

ACCESS TO JUSTICE IN CAMEROON

Justice is very accessible in Cameroon. For it is virtually free of charge for litigants. This can be traced from the traditional justice system and the modern justice system.
In Cameroon, traditional justice system is tied to the legal traditions and values inherited from the colonial past. The traditional justice system is tied to tradition and values passed down from generation to generation as customary law regulating life in village communities. The people in rural areas in Cameroon have recourse to the tradition of customary Law Flora; and this is because they have that desire to settle their disputes, grievances and minor criminal matters for peace to reign in their communities.
The lawyers are positively excluded from customary law matters in most jurisdictions because of the nature of the forum and the informality and simplicity of the proceedings which are aimed at maximizing direct public participation which is essential, given the lack of official enforcement mechanisms. In this system, the litigants access justice free of charge. Any person within the traditional system whose rights have been infringed runs to the chief in council to lay his complaint free of charge. The traditional ruler calls his members in council and they listen to both parties and pass their ruling. The person who is found guilty is given a fine to pay. Since it is a traditional set-up the litigants adhere to the jurisdiction and the decisions for fear of been castigated. At times if one of the parties does not want to adhere to the decision, the chief in council write out the proceedings and hand them over to the other party to take to higher quarters free of charge. These quarters can either be the police, Gendarmerie, the State Counsel chambers, the Examining magistrate’s chambers or straight to court through direct summons.
In Cameroon, the modern justice system includes preliminary investigation, full trial and execution of the courts judgment. It is further broken into criminal, civil and commercial, civil status and administrative justice etc. As aforesaid, Cameroon is a hybrid of both the French Napoleonic code and Civil Law and the received English Common Law. We have a blend of both systems practiced in the two regions of the country known as West Cameroon for the English speaking extraction and East Cameroon for the French Speaking extraction.
Access to Justice in Cameroon is virtually free of charge when it comes to commencement of action in courts, be it criminal or civil. With criminal justice, the state prosecutes free and foots the bills of criminal matters up to execution of court judgments. In Cameroon, a person whose rights have been infringed makes a complaint to either the police charge office, Gendarmerie charge office, the State Counsel’s chambers, the Examining magistrate’s chambers or to the court by Direct Summons. The complaint is free of charge. After the investigation a charge is preferred against the defaulter and the complainant is listed as a witness to the state (prosecution witness) and he is paid by the state after the trial. His transport to and from his house and hotel bills are paid by the state through a witness claim. For parties to come to court, the state sends out summonses free of charge to Bailiffs to serve them to litigants. These Bailiffs are paid by the state of Cameroon through emolument or output allowance; i.e. they are paid depending on the number of acts that they carry out. The magistrates, Registrars and other personnel who work in the court are paid emolument (output allowance) and this is to cause them not to harass litigants. The Cameroon government has implemented these measures to enable litigants have easy access to justice. Hence criminal justice in Cameroon is rendered free (without charge) and this makes access to criminal justice in Cameroon really accessible.
Before the coming into force of law No. 2005/007 of 27th July 2005 on the Criminal Procedure Code, access to criminal justice in Cameroon had a language barrier, for the French speaking Cameroonians were using the “Code d’instruction Criminelle” while the English were using the “Criminal Procedure Ordinance”.
The Criminal Procedure Code (C.P.C) is a law that came into existence to unify the Common Law and the Civil Law so far as criminal procedure is concern. In fact, this criminal procedure code is an essential piece of the history of Cameroon. It chronicles, for everyone to remember the watershed in Cameroon’s drive towards the accomplishment of democracy and a Republican system. This code is a legal revolution which advocates a close link with the profound political and ideological changes resulting from the cry of Cameroonians whose human rights were trampled upon. The legal change in this code is characterized mainly by the triumph of the liberty of individuals. This liberty of individuals widely exposed in this code has instituted a real pedagogy of increased responsibility in the Cameroonian society and has enhanced free access to justice. This Criminal Procedure Code is an invaluable victory for Cameroon and constitutes an indisputable model for a number of other countries in the world to emulate. This code is in line with the policy of transparency and osmosis, which Cameroon legal experts have instituted, and intends to Stephen between the governed and the administration of justice. This code illustrates Cameroon’s civic culture in progress, which is the foundation of every Republic, including the young Republic of Cameroon, in which citizens have constant and full knowledge of the systematic achievements of which they are at the same time the architects. With the merging of the Criminal Procedure Code (C.P.C) all Cameroonians both English and French are now using one unified bilingual code that enhances the criminal trial and facilitates interpretation within the courts and the judicial system in general. This therefore makes access to criminal justice in Cameroon easily accessible.
The unified code has made both the accused persons, magistrates, lawyers, judicial police officers and administrators to have access to proper management and execution of the functions and personal rights and obligation as to the citizens.
The administration and the hierarchical structure of the courts in Cameroon today have changed especially with the promulgation of law No. 2006/015 of 29th December 2006 on Judicial Organization. Wherein the jurisdiction of courts i.e. Courts of First Instance, High Courts, Appeal Courts and Supreme Courts have extended jurisdictional competences thereby bringing justice nearer the people e.g. the Court of First Instance in a small sub-division or District can entertain a suit for up to 10.000.000Frs CFA (20 000 Dollars) which was not so before and this has facilitated access to justice in Cameroon.
The signing of the Treaty guarding Commercial Law in Africa (OHADA) i.e. The Harmonization of Business Law in Africa by Cameroon in 1998 has facilitated the access to justice in Cameroon in the sense that the Law is operative in many member countries. Within Cameroon itself, the law is cherished because it has unified commercial and company law. The operative rules are now the same. Judges of the Common Law and Civil Law now apply the same principles and this has really eased the access to justice in Cameroon.
The Harmonization of Business Law in Africa (OHADA) has really broadened Cameroon commercial system, for it is unified and bilingual, thus rendering access to justice a reality.
The Cameroon Judicial System has introduced the Examining Magistrates in the administration of justice. Their functions are to carry out preliminary investigations and this has caused the preliminary duties of investigation to be smooth and more matured including easy access to a level headed investigator who is the Examining Magistrate than the ordinary police and Gendarmes who are either ignorant or lazy to perform fast and free investigation. The ordinary man deals freely with the Examining Magistrate free of charge. The police could complicate issues thus smoothing the channel of justice in Cameroon.
The Cameroon Labour Code protects the interest of the employees particularly after dismissal by employers. It provides for availability of social justice in that a dismissed employee for example who was working in say Yaounde and because of hardship relocates to Kumba in the South West Region can conveniently sue in Kumba and the employer who is financially viable will be forced to attend court in Kumba. This makes the less privilege to have easy access to justice. Labour suits in themselves are registered free of charge thereby making justice affordable to all at no cost.
Access to justice in Cameroon is easy and it has been made easier with the new law on Judicial Organization, The Criminal Procedure Code (C.P.C), The Structure and Administration of Justice not forgetting the proper functioning of preliminary investigation.
In Cameroon, accused persons charged with felonies are assigned lawyers and these lawyers are paid by the state. This is what is called “State Brief”. These lawyers defend their accused as their client. This state brief is mandatory in all felonies. This practice known as state briefs emanates from the common law system but it is applicable today in the entire nation. State briefs are limited to cases where the defendant does not initially have a lawyer. Once a lawyer has been assigned, he cannot thereafter accept a fee from the party he has been assigned to defend. At the end of the case the lawyer is paid through the state treasury.
The Cameroon Bar rules empowers the court to assign lawyers to provide free legal services to any person in need. The competent judicial and legal officer may appoint ex-officio any advocate or advocate-in-training for the purpose of representing any natural person before his court in accordance with the instruments in force. The advocate or advocate-in-training so appointed shall not be entitled to any honorarium. The counsel so assigned is not entitled to any remuneration and except for justifiable reasons accepted by the court, and the lawyer cannot decline such a case. This therefore makes access to justice reachable to everyone.
The Legal Aid Commission is another public mechanism through which lawyers render legal assistance to needy persons. The commissions are set up at courts of First Instance, Military tribunals, Courts of Appeals and Supreme Court. Legal aid is granted as of right depending on the nature of the case or upon application promised on the state of poverty of the applicant. The commissions cover all costs related to the matter. Once legal aid is granted in a criminal matter an advocate is appointed to represent the defendant. The law regulating the legal aid commission is law No. 76/321 of November 1976.
The Composition is thus:
· Headed by the President of the Court or his/her collaborator
· The secretary is the registrar in attendance
· The Senior Divisional Officer (S.D.O) is a member or his representative
· The applicant of the legal aid.
The file must contain:
1. Hand written application stating the reason and inability of the applicant
2. If he has children, he must show a collective life certificate of the children
3. He must show a taxation certificate which shows that he has no activity that generates income.
4. In Cameroon, the decision whether to grant legal aid rests with the state institutions. The practice of retaining salaried lawyers like the duty solicitor scheme in the United Kingdom does not exist in Cameroon. Lawyers are independent in Cameroon and they operate as private businessmen. This is so because there is no law school in Cameroon to train lawyers. The system of calling to the public bar is void in Cameroon.
In Cameroon, lawyers render Pro Bono legal services to litigants. Cameroonian lawyers in their day-to-day activities provide free legal services in criminal matters for the indigent accused. These services range from counseling, legal education, consultation and bails to representation at trial and drafting of an appeal. The practice is based on the perception of a traditional duty upon lawyers to render justice accessible to the under-privileged.
The Cameroon judiciary is cherished because of the integration of young dynamic magistrates into the corp. The Cameroon government has the National School of Administration and Magistracy where young and dynamic Administrators are trained. These young men and women who graduate from that school are posted to the field and they render justice fearlessly. Before administering justice, they take oath at the Supreme Court. The wordings of the oath are as follows “I ……….. swear before God and man, honesty to serve the people of the Republic of Cameroon, in my capacity as a magistrate, to render justice impartially to all, in accordance with the laws, regulations and customs of the Cameroonian people, without fear, favour or malice, to keep the secret of deliberations; and in all circumstances, at all places and at all times to bear myself as a faithful magistrate”.
The young dynamic magistrates render justice according to this oath and this has made justice accessible to the citizens.

BAIL

In Cameroon, any person lawfully remanded in custody may be granted bail on condition that he provides one or more sureties or deposits a sum of money as may be demanded by the judicial officer in charge of the matter; this is to ensure his appearance either before the judicial police or any judicial authority.
When bail is not granted as of right, it may be granted on the application of the defendant or his counsel and after the submissions of the state counsel, the person granted bail enters into a recognizance to appear before the judicial authority whenever convened and undertakes to inform the latter of his movements.

REMAND IN CUSTODY

In Cameroon, Remand in Custody is an exceptional measure which is not ordered except in the case of a misdemeanor or a felony. It is sometimes ordered for the preservation of evidence, the maintaining of public order, protection of life and property, or to ensure the appearance of an accused before the Examining Magistrate or the court. A person with a known place of abode is exempted from Remand except in the cases of felony.

ILLEGAL DETENTION

In Cameroon, any person who has been illegally detained may when the proceedings end in a no-case ruling or an acquittal which has become final, obtain compensation if he proves that he has actually suffered injury of a particular serious nature as a result of such detention. The compensation shall be paid by the state which may recover same from the judicial police officer, the State Counsel or the Examining Magistrate at fault. The compensation is awarded at first instance by the decision of a commission.
When the action is against a magistrate, the commission is composed as follows;
President: A judge of the Supreme Court
Members: - Two court of Appeal magistrates;
- A representative of the Ministry in charge of Higher State Control;
- A representative of the Ministry in charge of Public Service;
- A representative of Ministry in charge of Finance;
- A member of parliament designated by the Bureau of the National Assembly;
- The President of the Bar Counsel or his representative.
When the action is against a judicial police officer, the commission in addition to the above includes a representative of the Department in charge of National Security or the Gendarmerie, as the case maybe. Each substantive member shall be designated with an alternate member. The substantive and alternate members shall be designated for three judicial years. Those from government departments and institutions must have at least the rank of Director of the Central Administration.
The commission is seized of the matter by application within six months from the date of the end of the illegal detention or the date when no case ruling or acquittal decision become final. The procedure that is followed is that of the Supreme Court; and it is in camera. The reasoned decision delivered by the commission is subject to appeal before the Judicial Division of the Supreme Court. The decision is a civil judgment.
With these conditions, citizens have an easy access to justice in Cameroon because their rights are protected.

JUDICIAL ORGANIZATION OF COURTS IN CAMEROONThe Cameroon Government has organized its Judiciary in such a way that access to it is very affordable. This is seen in Law No. 2006/015 of 29 December 2006 on JUDICIAL ORGANIZATION ORDINANCE. The courts are organized as follows:
- The Supreme Court
- Courts of Appeal
- Lower courts for administrative litigations
- Lower audit courts
- Military Courts
- High Courts
- Courts of First Instance
- Customary Law Courts
We shall therefore expose on how each of the courts can be easily accessed. The Government of Cameroon, has made it possible that justice is administered in public and judgments delivered in open court. Any breach of this renders the whole proceedings null and void “ab initio”. But there are circumstances where hearings take place in camera or in chambers. Also the courts in Cameroon have been given those powers or on the application of one or more of the parties to order a full or partial hearing in camera of a given matter where any publicity thereof may undermine state security, public or morality. In these cases, hearing is not opened to the public and the presiding magistrates makes mention of this in the decision which is usually published.
For void of partiality, the Cameroon judiciary has made it in such a way that judgments are written before they are delivered. All judgments set out the reason upon which they are based in fact and in law. Any breach of this renders the judgment null and void.
It is stated in bold in the judicial organization ordinance of Cameroon, that justice shall be administered free of charge, subject only to the fiscal provisions concerning stamp duty and registration and those concerning the reproduction of the records of proceedings for appeals. In criminal matters the public treasury advances funds and bears all the expenses incurred by the legal department. The legal aid is granted in accordance with the rules laid down in a separate instrument. To cause magistrates to be responsible of their acts, the justice system in Cameroon has made it possible that all judicial acts bear the names of the magistrate(s) of the Bench who take part in the decision-making and are signed by them. Acts whose accomplishment requires the assistance of a court registrar shall bear the name and signature of the registrar.
Where a matter is heard by a panel, the decision of the court is that of the majority. The magistrate(s) in the minority may express their opinion in writing by way of a dissenting judgment and enter it in the file of the matter. Copies of the judgments and judicial warrants, together with engrossments and copies of contracts and all documents capable of enforcement shall bear the executory formula introduced as follows:
“REPUBLIC OF CAMEROON”
“IN THE NAME OF THE PEOPLE OF CAMEROON”
And closed with the following words,
“Wherefore, the President of the Republic commands and enjoins all Bailiffs and Process-Servers to enforce this judgment (or orders, etc), the Procureur General and the State Counsel to lend them support, and all Commanders and Officers of the Armed Forces and Police Forces to lend them assistance when so required by the law”.
It will be wise at this juncture to discuss about the various courts that are mostly used in Cameroon, their composition and functions in the rendering of justice to the people. These are the Courts of First Instance, the High Courts and the Courts of Appeal.

THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE
To bring the administration of justice nearer to the people and accessible, a court of First Instance is established in every sub-division in Cameroon and it is situated in the chief town of the sub-division. In sub-divisions where the court is not yet operational, the court in the Divisional head quarter visits as assizes referred to as “circuit courts”
For an easy access to the Court of First Instance the court is sectionalized into 3, i.e. Bench, Preliminary Inquiry and the Legal Department and the composition is as follows:
A) At the Bench
- A President
- One or more magistrates,
- One Registrar-in-Chief,
- Registrars.
B) For the Preliminary Inquiry
- One or more Examining Magistrates,
- One or more Registrars.
C) At the Legal Department
- A State Counsel
- One or more Deputy State Counsel
To avoid delay of composition of panels all cases brought before the Court of First Instance are heard and determined by a single judicial officer. However the President of the court sometime of his/her own motion or on the application of the Legal Department or that of a party, order that a matter be heard by a collegiate bench of three members. In Labour matters the presiding magistrate sits with assessors.
The Courts of First Instance have jurisdiction in
a) CRIMINAL MATTERS:
- To try all offences classified as misdemeanors or simple offences;
- To hear applications for bail lodged by persons detained or charged with criminal offences within its jurisdiction;
- To try felonies committed by minors without adult co-offenders or accessories.
b) CIVIL, COMMERCIAL OR LABOUR MATTERS
- To recover by way of simplified procedure, all unquestionable, liquid and due civil and commercial debts not exceeding 10.000.000 FRS CFA or 20.000 Dollars. But where there is a counterclaim, the Court of First Instance has jurisdiction to entertain the counterclaim, irrespective of the amount claimed.
The President of the Court of First Instance or any other magistrate designated by him/her has jurisdiction to;
- Rule on motions on notice;
- Rule on motions ex-parte;
- Decide on disputes relating to the execution of judgments of the Court of First Instance and any other document capable of such executions, except those of the High Court, Court of Appeal or Supreme Court;
- Rule on applications for exequatur.
The Court of First Instance in criminal matters entertains damages resulting from the commission of an offence. When there is a civil party claim in a criminal action, the court entertains claims above 10.000.000 FRS (20.000 dollars).
In cases where the court of First Instance is hearing a case of juvenile delinquency, its composition includes assessors from the Social Welfare and the proceedings are mostly held in camera.

THE HIGH COURT

In Cameroon a High Court is established in every Division and this High Court is situated in the chief town of the division. However, to bring justice nearer to the people it sometimes hears matters outside its seat known as circuit courts.
The High Court is composed of
a) At the Bench
- A President
- One or more judges
- One Registrar – in – chief
- Registrars
b) For the Preliminary Inquiry
- One or more Examining Magistrates
- One or more Registrars
c) At the Legal Department
- One State Counsel
- One or more Deputy State Counsel

The president of the Court of First Instance at the seat of the High Court may concurrently with his functions be appointed president of the High Court. The same scenario applies to Examining Magistrates, Registrar – in – chief and Registrars.
Cases before the High Court are heard and determined by a single judicial officer but however, the president of the court on his/her own motion or on the application of the legal department, or of a party, orders that the matter be heard by a collegiate bench of three members.
The High Courts in Cameroon have jurisdictions
a) In Criminal Matters
- To try felonies and related misdemeanors
- To hear and determine applications for bail lodged by persons detained or charged with criminal offences within its jurisdiction.
b) In Civil, Commercial and Labour Matters:
- To hear and determine suits and proceedings relating to the status of persons, civil status, marriage, divorce, filiations, adoption and inheritance;
- To hear matters where the amount of damages claimed exceeds 10 million francs CFA (20.000 dollars) as well as all unquestionable, liquid and due commercial claims, of whatever amount, where the obligation arises from a cheque, a promissory note or a bill of exchange.
c) In non – administrative matters:
- To hear and determine all applications for an order prohibiting any person(s) or authority from doing or performing any act in respect of which he is not entitled or competent to do by law (prohibition);
- To hear and determine all applications for an order commanding any person(s) or authority to do or perform any act which he is required to do by law (mandamus).
The president of the High Court or a judge designated by law is competent to hear and determine:
a) Disputes relating to the execution of the decisions of the High Court;
b) To hear and determine applications for immediate release (habeas corpus) lodged by or made on behalf of persons taken in charge or detained illegally or without warrant.
During criminal trials the High Court entertains claims for damages resulting from the commission of the offences.

COURT OF APPEAL
A court of Appeal is established in every Region and it is situated in the chief town of the region. It is composed depending on the needs of service, of:
- One or more Benches for motions and urgent applications
- One or more Benches for disputes relating to the enforcement of decisions
- One or more Benches for Civil and Commercial matters
- One or more Benches for Labour matters
- One or more Benches for traditional law matters
- One or more Benches for felonies
- One or more Benches for misdemeanors and simple offences
- One or more Benches for inquiry control
The president of the Court of Appeal has those powers to merge two or more benches and the judges are assigned to the benches by the order of the president. Some judges may be members of more than one bench.
Where the court is hearing appeals against the judgments of a military tribunal or has to rule on application for release subsequently to such an appeal, a military magistrate appointed for this purpose occupies the bench of the legal department. The activities of the military magistrate are limited to representing the legal department at the hearing. Cases falling within the jurisdiction of the court of Appeal are heard by three judicial officers who are members of the said court but where the court is sitting to determine an appeal against the judgment of Military Court. One of the three judicial officers is replaced by a military judge and in his absence by the officer of the Armed Forces. This officer of the Armed Forces before sitting court takes oath before the said court.

EXAMINING MAGISTRATE

During judicial inquiry, the Examining magistrate is assisted by a registrar and the defendant may be represented by counsel. The Examining magistrate conducts the inquiry in his chambers under closed doors but he may allow the public to have access to his chambers depending on the matter. He may on his own motion and by a ruling grant the Defendant bail. Once the Examining magistrate is seized with an application for bail, he shall within five days thereof deliver a ruling either granting or refusing bail. The application for bail is recorded on the day of its deposit and a copy thereof mentioning registration is handed to the person who deposited the application. Within 24 hours of the registration, the application is transmitted, together with a copy of the file to the State Counsel for addresses. Within 48 hours of its receipt, the State Counsel has to return the file to the Examining Magistrate, together with his addresses, who has to deliver a ruling within 48 hours either granting or refusing bail. The ruling is served on the defendant without delay. Silence on the part of the Examining magistrate within 5 days is tantamount to rejection and in such a case; the defendant has a right to lodge his application before the inquiry control chambers of the court of Appeal.
The Examining magistrate closes the preliminary inquiry either by a committal order before the court of First Instance or High Court or by a no-case or partial no-case ruling or by a ruling declining jurisdiction, as the case may be. As concerns felonies, the Examining magistrate of a High Court shall be competent to carry out preliminary inquiries throughout the area of jurisdiction of the said High Court. However, the Examining magistrate of a court of First Instance located elsewhere other than at the seat of the High Court carries out preliminary inquiries for felonies and related misdemeanors committed within his area of jurisdiction.

THE LEGAL DEPARTMENT

This is a department that ensures the enforcement of laws, regulations and judgments and may, in the interest of the law, make any request it considers necessary before the court. In criminal matters and without prejudice to the rights of the civil party, it searches for offences, institute and carry-out prosecutions, and issue any warrants necessary for the institution and prosecution of criminal action. The presence of the Legal Department in court is obligatory in criminal matters and optional in any other matter, except otherwise provided by law. The public treasury advances and defrays the court charges borne by Legal Department.
There is a Legal Department attached to each court of Appeal, headed by a Procureur General (Attorney General) who is under the direct authority of the Minister in charge of Justice.
There is a Legal Department attached to each High Court or Court of First Instance, headed by a State Counsel directly subordinate to the Procureur General at the court of Appeal of the area of jurisdiction. The State Counsel and the deputy State Counsel of the court of First Instance at the seat of a High Court may, concurrently with their functions be appointed State Counsel and Deputy State Counsel of that High Court.
This judicial organization of courts in Cameroon has facilitated access to justice because the litigants know their rights and know which court to seize in case of litigation.

IMPEDIMENTS

Though the Cameroon Judiciary by its laws and acts has facilitated the access to justice in Cameroon, there are a lot of impediments that have made it difficult for these good laws and ideas to be implemented in the Cameroon Judicial Systems.
1. Low salaries of judicial authorities:
The judicial authorities in Cameroon are not well paid compared to their counter-parts elsewhere. This is one of the causes why some people say the Cameroon judiciary is corrupt because the public expects too much from them and they have to leave up to the standard without the means available. Some judicial authorities turn to receive illegal gains from litigants thereby causing access to justice difficult to the poor.
2. Lack of sensitization of laws
Cameroon judiciary has good laws but the citizens do not have access to them because they are not sensitized. Laws are promulgated and published in the official gazette in English and French but not all people have access to these gazettes. They are published in news papers and announced over the radio but these newspapers and radios do not cover the entire territory. This causes citizens to continuously live in ignorance. There are very few citizens who know about the legal aid commission, and this causes the poor to suffer injustice because they always cry for lack of finance to follow up their matters.
3. Nonpayment of Output Allowances (Emoluments) to judicial authorities and Bailiffs.
All acts carried out by the judicial authorities and Bailiffs as to criminal matters are covered by the state but for a while now, these allowances have not been flowing. Bailiffs are suppose to serve summonses to criminal litigants through the help of this medium but since the state treasury cannot cover up their charges, summonses are difficult to be served to litigants and this delays justice and at the same time make access to justice difficult. These output allowances motivates the judicial authorities to do their job judiciously but today, judicial authorities are reluctant because of lack of incentive from the state.
4. Nonpayment of Lawyers. Dues by the State (State briefs and Legal aid Commission)
The granting of state briefs and legal aid is exclusively within the control of the state authorities and as a result the public funded aid system is fraught with certain fundamental drawbacks that impair the provision of aid by lawyers.
For the state briefs, the remuneration is quite low and discouraging for lawyers and this makes the lawyers not to put in their best because of the meager remuneration. This causes but fresh lawyers who lack experience to handle serious offences like capital murder.
For the legal aid commission, it is difficult to sit because the quorum is hardly attained and if the matters are assigned, the lawyers face the same difficulties as those of state briefs.
5. Inaccessible Legal services of magistrates and lawyers.
The Cameroon judiciary has only about one thousand magistrates who render justice to a population of over 18 million people this makes the magistrate to be over loaded with case files and thereby making them not to be very effective in the exercise of their duties. This makes access to justice very difficult for a magistrate on a daily bases has about 50 matters on the cause list which he cannot handle. This causes too many adjournments thereby delaying justice and justice delayed is justice denied.
Lawyers are about 2000 in number with a population of over 18 million people. Lawyers are therefore very few to render adequate legal aid to needy persons and statistics show that most lawyers in Cameroon are based in urban areas. This makes the services of lawyers relatively inaccessible to the rural poor who constitute a significant percentage of the population.
While there is a school for training of magistrates in Cameroon, there is no formal institution for the training of lawyers. Pupil lawyers train under other lawyers without any specific training program or external supervision. Consequently, they lack basic training on human right laws and practices. Most of the lawyers lack the knowledge and requisite skills in contemporary and innovative approach to rendering legal aid.
6. Judicial Delays
Slow court processes and multiple adjournments caused by congestion of cases; incomplete case files, non-appearance of witnesses and non-production of defendants from prison custody are very common. Some criminal matters remain pending in court for very long periods. Considering the fact that investigations and prosecution of criminal matters is substantially within the purview of the legal department, judges and lawyers usually have very little to do with the lengthy delays. However, some lawyers have the propensity of clogging the wheels of justice by adopting tactics that unnecessarily prolong cases.
These impediments cause access to justice very difficult and cumbersome to litigants and citizens in general.

CONCLUSION

For justice to be rendered accessible and affordable there must be cooperation between lawyers and other institutions in the criminal justice process. Such co-operation will positively impact the quality and effectiveness of the manner of handling of cases from investigation to the rendering of judgment.
The government should review the salaries of judicial authorities to make them independent and free from having the desire to receive unwanted incentives from litigants. The output allowances of judicial authorities and those of Bailiffs should be paid up to date and this will cause them to be effective in rendering their services.
The government should look for a medium to cause the available laws to reach the rural areas. This can be done through the village heads. All laws enacted should be sent to all departments to distribute them to their personnel and this will cause all citizens to have knowledge of the existing laws.
The state should increase the intake of magistrates into the National School of Administration and Magistracy and recruit more lawyers into the Bar association.
State briefs and legal aid commission matters should be paid within a reasonable period.
Notwithstanding these difficulties, the Cameroon judiciary has easy access as compared to other countries in Africa.

REFERENCES

- Criminal Procedure Code of Cameroon; Law No. 2005/007 of 27th July 2005.
- Law No. 2006/015 of 29th December 2006 on Judicial Organization.
- Access To Justice in Africa and beyond (making the Rule of law a Reality) by the Penal Reform International and Bluhm Legal Clinic of the Northwestern University School of law.

**Metiege Divine Njikang is a presiding and examining magistrate of the court of First Instance in Muyuka, Fako division and the court of Appeal of the Southwest region in Cameroon.