Hon. Yvonne Dausab , MP

Minister of Justice

The Mandate for the Ministry of Justice as set out in the Medium Term Expenditure Framework for the period 2017/18 to 2019/20 is to: administer justice in the Republic of Namibia. The distiguished mandate as per the functions is: to provide legal services and access to justice.

Through its Directorate of Legislative Drafting, the Ministry is charged with the function of scrutinising and drafting bills for Parliament, Proclamations of the President, Regulations and Government Notices from Ministries, Offices and Agencies, as well as Rules of the Supreme Court, High Court and Magistrate Courts. In addition, the Ministry provides legal advice to Ministries, Offices and Agencies of Government, mainly on the drafting of legislation, subsidiary legislation and particulars of legislation in force.

It is further the responsibility of the Ministry of Justice to provide legal representation in courts for Ministries, Offices, Agencies, the Master of the High Court, the Speaker of the National Assembly, the Prosecutor General, Magistrates, the Motor Vehicle Accident Fund, Regional Councils, recognized traditional authorities as well as other entities engaged in government administration.

Not only does the Ministry deal with legal matters on the national level, but the Ministry is also engaged in legal issues on regional and international level. It deals with legal matters such as mutual legal assistance, extraditions, human rights and humanitarian law, bilateral and multilateral affairs, legislation, policy and research, legal education and professional discipline of legal practitioners. The Ministry is the central authority for the processing of requests on extradition and mutual legal assistance in criminal and civil matters and in addition, processes requests for reciprocal enforcement of foreign judgments and issues apostilles on the authentication of public documents for use in foreign jurisdictions in terms of the Hague Convention.

Furthermore, the Ministry of Justice is charged with the responsibility of providing legal aid in the form of legal advice and legal representation to indigent persons at State expense in Namibia. The primary goal of providing legal aid is to ensure fair trial to all.

The Ministry also oversees the administration of deceased estates, registration of trusts, appointment of and administration pertaining to tutors and curators, administration of the Guardian Fund (in respect of minors and mentally challenged persons. The Ministry further provides various administrative support services to the entire ministry in terms of its strategic objective: “To ensure an enabling environment and high performance culture.

Therefore, allow me to express my sincere appreciation to all the staff members and stakeholders for their tireless efforts to ensure that the ministry deliver on its mandate.