Renthia Kaimbi
Justice and labour relations minister Fillemon Wise Immanuel said an urgent court order and declarator is the only way to stop and fix the harm caused by the magistrates’ strike.
Immanuel on Tuesday filed an urgent application case to compel the country’s magistrates to return to work, describing the strike as illegal and unlawful.
He said the strike is causing serious and lasting harm to the justice system and is denying people their right to access justice.
The application names the Magistrates’ and Judges’ Association of Namibia (MJAN) as the first respondent, along with the Magistrates Commission, the Chief Magistrate, and the Prosecutor General.
The magistrates have been on strike since 5 November 2025.
The strike has brought lower courts to a near standstill, halting civil trials, opposed motions and criminal cases, including bail hearings.
Immanuel said MJAN’s lawyers had written to him on 30 October, warning that industrial action would start if their demands for benefits and allowances were not met.
Despite his response the next day, the strike went ahead.
MJAN wants the government to implement a verified proposal from 6 August 2025, which they say reflects an earlier agreement with the Ministry of Finance.
The government, however, went ahead with a different set of adjustments that were published in a government gazette on 24 October.
Immanuel argues that salary negotiations are still ongoing and that no final decision has been made.
He said the process for approving magistrates’ salaries involves consultation and review, and therefore, a strike should not have taken place.
In his founding affidavit, Immanuel said he was abroad when the strike began. After returning, he said he urgently met with officials and wrote to the Magistrates Commission on 9 November, declaring the strike unlawful, but his directive was ignored.
Immanuel said he personally visited the Katutura and Windhoek Magistrates’ Courts on Monday, where he found that most court work had stopped, with cases being postponed.
He said section 24 of the Magistrates Act and the Code of Conduct for Magistrates prohibit magistrates from taking any action that disrupts or harms the efficiency of the justice system.
He is asking the court to issue an urgent interim order, known as a Rule Nisi, to declare the strike illegal and to stop MJAN and its members from continuing with it.
The order would require magistrates to return to work immediately.
The case is set to be heard on Friday, 14 November 2025. If the court grants the Rule Nisi, the respondents must explain by 19 November why the order should not become permanent.
Immanuel is also requesting that the court impose punitive costs on any respondent who opposes the application.
