The Malawi Judiciary Holds a Plea-Bargaining Training

The Malawi Judiciary, in collaboration with Pepperdine University, is holding a two-day training on Plea Bargaining, which began on Tuesday, 6th May 2025, in Lilongwe. The training, which is being held with funding from the Irish Rule of Law International, aims to promote interest in plea bargaining and demonstrate its efficacy in increasing access to justice and reducing case backlog.

Speaking when he opened the training, Deputy Chief Justice of the Republic of Malawi, Justice Lovemore Chikopa SC, said the criminal justice system has found itself in a situation with a lot of criminal matters, putting a strain on financial and human resources.  “We have come to the realisation that we need to find innovative ways of dealing with our criminal case load, so plea bargaining is one of them which allows those that are charged with criminal offences admit the offences within certain conditions and this training is to prepare the Judiciary and all stakeholders to make sure that we are on the same page as far is this exercise is concerned,” said Chikopa.

According to Justice Violet Chipao, who is the Chairperson of the Judiciary Training Committee, the Malawi Judiciary signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Pepperdine University with a desire to strengthen and build capacity within its legal system. The partnership also aims to promote justice reform projects that will enhance the administration of justice in Malawi, particularly in the area of resolving pending criminal cases without the need for trial through plea bargaining, justice sector capacity-building and restorative justice.

Director of Global Legal Training Development for Pepperdine University, Kyle Smith, said it is exciting to see that there is growing interest in plea bargaining among judicial officers. He specifically took note of the interest by the Chief Justice of Malawi, His Lordship Rizine Robert Mzikamanda SC, who has put the implementation of plea bargaining as a priority. Smith said “the training is important for judicial officers, prosecutors and defence advocates to gather together as stakeholders on the topic of plea bargaining, how to enhance capacity in the plea-bargaining space in Malawi and this is going to have amazing impact on the criminal justice system in case of resolutions, docket efficiency and also victims receiving justice more quickly.”

The training is being attended by Judges of the High Court of Malawi, other judicial officers, and staff of the Malawi Judiciary. Other stakeholders represented at the training include the Ministry of Justice, the Directorate of Public Prosecutions, the Malawi Police Service, the Legal Aid Bureau, and the Malawi Law Society.