Individual Corruption

Several sources including the Bertelsmann Foundation 2010 and the Heritage Foundation 2011 point out that the judiciary in Mozambique remain weak and is marred by corruption. This is also illustrated in Afrobarometer 2008 , in which approximately one-third of Mozambicans believed that some judges and magistrates are involved in corruption. On the contrary, a majority of respondents from the same survey show ‘a lot’ of trust in the court system.

Several citizens have accused the Govuro District Judge of abuse of power, as he allegedly collected fines without issuing receipts, as reported in an August 2010 article by AllAfrica.

Business Corruption

The courts and the legal system in Mozambique are unreliable, compounding the risks related to business operations, particularly in relation to contract enforcement. According to the US Department of State 2011 the judicial system has been largely ineffective in resolving commercial disputes. The USAID Mozambique Democracy and Governance Assessment 2009 reports that the judiciary's lack of credibility has prompted the business organisation Confederation of Labour Associations to set up parallel arbitration systems. The administrative burden increases the use of facilitation payments within the judicial system. The World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness Report 2010-2011 reveals that Mozambique's courts are both insufficiently efficient and subject to political influences of members of government, citizens and companies.

According to the World Bank & IFC Enterprise Surveys 2007, a little less than one-fifth of surveyed companies perceived the judicial system in Mozambique to be fair, impartial and uncorrupted.

Political Corruption

The judiciary in Mozambique is vulnerable to corruption, permeating all actors within the judicial chain such as attorneys, judges, lawyers and diligence officers, as reported by Tiri National Integrity System Survey 2007.

The US Department of State 2010 reports that Mozambique's judiciary is heavily influenced by the executive branch and the ruling party, particularly in the lower level. Moreover, the judiciary suffers from understaffing, insufficient training, lack of transparency and corruption. The USAID Mozambique Democracy and Governance Assessment 2009 reports that the greatest constraint on achieving a well-functioning judiciary in Mozambique is a lack of capacity, manifested by a shortage of qualified personnel, limited budgets and several districts which lack courts.

Frequency

The World Bank & IFC: Doing Business 2011:
- Enforcing a commercial contract in Mozambique requires a company to go through an average of 30 administrative procedures, which takes an average of 730 days and cost an average of 142.5% of the claim.

The World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness Report 2010-2011:
- Business executives give the Mozambican judiciary's level of independence from influences of government, citizens, or companies a score of 2.9 on a 7-point scale (1 'heavily influenced' and 7 'entirely independent').

- Business executives give the efficiency of the legal framework for private companies to settle disputes and to challenge the legality of government actions and/or regulations a score of 3.5 and 3.4 respectively on a 7-point scale (1 'extremely inefficient' and 7 'highly efficient').

Afrobarometer: Summary of Results Mozambique 2008:
- 33% of citizens responding to a survey believe that 'some' judges and magistrates are corrupt, 10% state that 'most’ of them are corrupt and 4% state that 'all' of them are corrupt.

- 55% of citizens surveyed state that they trust the courts of law 'a lot', 15% state that they 'somewhat' trust it and 7% state that they do not trust it at all.

The World Bank & IFC: Enterprise Surveys 2007:
- Only 17% of foreign companies perceive the judicial system to be fair, impartial and uncorrupted.