By Thoboloko Ntšonyane
MASERU – The 2023 first session of the Court of Appeal has been set for this year.
This information is contained in the roll call published by the Judiciary.
“There will be a roll call on Tuesday 11th April 2023 at 9:30am.”
The legal year for the apex court is set to commence from April 11 to May 12. This is an adopted practice from England although the latter’s legal year commences in October.
This court has only two sessions in a year, being that which runs from April to May and the last one running from October to November.
Also known as the second court of record, the Court of Appeal is the highest court on the land. As the judiciary is undergoing the reforms process, once completed this court will be phased out and Lesotho will have the Supreme Court as the highest court in the land.
Some of the cases scheduled to be heard during the court’s session, include that of the former Lesotho Defence Force (LDF) Commander retired Lieutenant General Tlali Kamoli versus the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
The court will hear 36 cases from April 11 to April 21, while from April 22 to May 11 will be reserved for writing the judgments.
The judgments will be delivered on May 12.
The Appeal Court bench has one local Judge, who is also its president, Justice Kananelo Mosito while the rest are from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region.
They are: Justice Petrus Damaseb from Namibia, Justice Philip Musonda (Zambia), Justice November Tafima Mtshiya and Justice Moses Hungwe Chinhengo both from Zimbabwe, and Justice Johann Van der Westhuizen from South Africa.