User:Jchipeta

Anaclet Chipeta

Anaclet Chawinga Chipeta (born 26 July 1956) sits on the Malawi Supreme Court of Appeal. He was appointed to the highest bench in December 2012 by President Joyce Banda after serving in the High Court of Malawi as Judge since August 2000 where he was Judge-President before his elevation.

'''Supreme Court Justice Assumed office''' February 2013 ''' Judge-President In office''' June 2008 – December 2012 Preceded by                                                  Justice Edward B. Twea Succeeded by                                                  Justice Maclean L. Kamwambe

High Court Judge In office August 2000 – December 2012

Chief Legal Aid Advocate In office July 1996 - August 2000 Preceded by                                                  A Succeeded by                                                  Wezi Kayira

Chief State Advocate In office February 1994 - July 1996 Preceded by                                                  B Succeeded by                                                Maclean L. Kamwambe

Personal details Born  					    July 26, 1956 Mafa Chipeta Village Traditional Authority M’belwa, Mzimba, Malawi

Spouse 					    Effie Chipeta, Ph.D (m. 1985) Children 				    3 Relatives 				    Prof. James E. Chipeta Mafa E. Chipeta and others Education 			                  University of Malawi University of Leicester Signature

He was decorated with the title of Senior Counsel (SC) which is the highest honour in the legal profession in Malawi by President Prof. Arthur Peter Mutharika in 2016.

He has dedicated all his professional life to public service after graduating with a Bachelor of Laws (Hons)2.1 in 1980 from the University of Malawi.

He immediately joined the Malawi Judiciary as a Resident Magistrate under the mentorship of Richard Banda (Chief Justice of Malawi 1994-2004), rose through the ranks thereby becoming Chief Resident Magistrate and eventually Deputy Registrar of the High Court.

He at one time served as Secretary of the Traditional Court instituted by Malawi's First President Dr Hastings Kamuzu Banda between 1983 and 1986.

His Lordship The Honourable Justice of Appeal A.C. Chipeta, SC, JA Mr. Chipeta then transferred to the Ministry of Justice in 1994 to serve as Chief State Advocate (Public Prosecutor). In the following year, he obtained a Master of Laws in Human rights and Civil Liberties from the University of Leicester.

In 1996, he served as Chief Legal Aid Advocate (Public Defender) under the same Ministry until his appointment as Judge of the High Court of Malawi by President Bakili Muluzi.

Over the years, Justice Chipeta has taught Criminal procedure and Law of Evidence at the University of Malawi's Faculty of Law in Zomba and at Staff Development Institute in Mpemba to train Lay Magistrates in Penal code and evidence.

He has served in special Law commissions to review the law in Malawi; was Rapporteur of the Malawi Constitutional Review in 2007, Chairperson on the review of the Chiefs act, Secretary of a commission of inquiry on the Malavi train accident among others.

He served on the council for legal education (now Malawi Legal Institute) and piloted the Case Management system funded by the European Union which improved service delivery in the Malawi Judiciary.

Justice Chipeta is a member of several local and international organizations such as the Commonwealth Magistrates and Judges Association, International Commission of Jurists, Southern African Judges Association, Magistrates and Judges Association of Malawi.

He has presented a lot of papers on case law, human rights, women's law, at both local and international judicial colloquia, conferences, Law retreats, law society annual general meetings, seminars and training/staff orientation across government departments on judicial perspective. He is published in the Malawi law reports and several other peer-reviewed journals.

In his first year of Judgeship, Judge Chipeta and two of his colleagues; the late Justice Chimasula-Phiri and Justice Mwaungulu faced impeachment charges of incompetence and misconduct by the Legislature.

They were later exonerated by President Muluzi after mounting pressure from civil society organizations and international legal instruments fighting for the independence of the Judiciary. The judges were deemed to be political but there was nothing to that effect. It was all political persecution. All three later sat at the Supreme Court as they progressed in their judicial careers.

His Lordship has decided on thousands of cases in the Republic such as Section 65 on Members crossing the floor while sitting at the High Court,  with a 3/5 Judge panel at the Constitutional Court and the Malawi Presidential Election Nullification Appeal at the Supreme Court before 7 Justices topping the list.

Justice Chipeta is a passionate Human rights Lawyer, Legal Scholar and International Jurist. The law is something he holds dear to his heart just like his faith and is fondly heard saying 'Principle overrides convenience'. He is a revered and prominent legal luminary who believes in the rule of law and boasts 40+ years in the legal profession.

Anaclet C. Chipeta was born to James Edward Mafa Chipeta and Elvas Lucia Mhlanga at Mzimba. He has several siblings. He married his sweetheart Dr. Effie K. Chipeta in 1985 and they have 3 children, a son and two daughters. He also has 3 grandchildren. They are devout Catholics. Family means everything to him.

He attended St Patrick's Seminary in Rumphi for his elementary education, St. Kizito Seminary in Dedza for high school, Chancellor College of the University of Malawi in Zomba for his LLB(Hons) and University of Leicester in the United Kingdom for his LLM. He has several professional certificates from renown legal institutes including the Royal Institute of Public Administrators (RIPA).

Lord Chipeta struggled with chronic hypertension in the early 2000s which led to him being diagnosed with end-stage renal failure in 2014. He had a successful kidney transplant in 2017 and has enjoyed robust health since then.

The Justice is known in many circles to be very brilliant, humble, sincere and undeniably possesses a great sense of humour. He loves cars, gadgets, photography and travel.

He plans to release a memoir on his experiences from the bench when he retires in the summer of 2021 while he lives a quiet life from the public eye.