The Judiciary's office will conduct a High Court circuit session in the Zambezi Region.

Four cases are expected to be tried during the two-week period commencing Thursday until the 31st of August in Katima Mulilo.

During the two-week period starting on Thursday and concluding on the 31st of August, four cases are anticipated to be heard in Katima Mulilo.

In a media briefing, Khaepriums Swartz, the Deputy Executive Director in the Office of the Judiciary, highlighted that the objective is to ensure the completion and final

"The honourable judge president will be presiding over four criminal cases, all murder cases read with domestic violence acts of course, as alluded to by advocate Pienaar, from the 17th to the 31st of August 2023. The cases are those that qualify to be heard in the high court."

Swartz also emphasised the importance of such sessions, stating that murder cases where domestic violence is involved are high in both the Zambezi and Okavango East regions.

Also speaking at the media conference was the Deputy Prosecutor-General for Zambezi, Johan Pienaar.

"It is high time that this type of development happened to the regions, and especially here in this region where we have a high rate of murder where domestic violence is involved, we are here to finalise cases, we don't come here for postponement of cases."

Both Swartz and Pienaar also mentioned that conducting these sessions annually could reduce the backlog of criminal cases and enhance access to justice.

The Katima Mulilo regional court will function as the high court circuit court throughout the two-week duration.

Both Swartz and Pienaar added that having such sittings on an annual basis could further be beneficial in eliminating logistics that would normally involve suspects and witnesses having to travel for high court cases.

They also added that the circuit sittings also serve as a means to alleviate caseloads of criminal cases as well as promote access to justice.

The Katima Mulilo regional court will serve as the high court circuit court during the two-week period.