Barbados is to open its Courts on June 24, 2011. The burning question is if after over a year without a permanent sitting Chief Justice, we can expect Marston Gibson to warm the bench as the new Chief Justice. Would the shareholders of an important and profitable corporation appoint an acting CEO for one year?
Can we expect Mr. Gibson’s appointment to be gazetted FINALLY?
Regardless of the specious and diplomatic comments recently published in the press in praise of the Barbados Judicial System, we in Barbados know that the justice system has ceased to operate in an efficient manner. The dysfunction of our Courts has been highlighted on BU in several blogs:
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Dates of hearing are set, but far too often the case has to be abandoned due to the fact that the files have been lost.
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Judges start cases, adjourn them and then leave them part-heard for years.
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Judges reserve their decisions for years.
Meanwhile, legal costs to the litigants spiral out of control and cause severe financial and personal hardship, not to mention the unremitting stress and strain on all involved. There evidence to support that decisions, once finally delivered, often provide strong grounds for appeal. The delivery of these judgments themselves once delivered to the Registry by the judges all too often take several months, to the financial detriment of all involved. To be expected is the mental stress the litigant mostly has to suffer by pursuing justice in our Courts.
The case management system has completely broken down. Yet, all the equipment is in place to assist the smooth and timely delivery of justice, but those responsible for using it don’t know how and or cannot be bothered.
In the new court complex, the corridors are over-crowded with lawyers and litigants and contain totally inadequate seating. Often times the scene is one out of a cowboy movie with cattle being herded in any all directions. This places a considerable strain on older or differently able litigants who must wait for hours to be called. It is not possible to seat witnesses in the courts themselves until AFTER they have given their evidence, by which time there is no need as all these witnesses want to do is to get the hell out of Dodge!
There is the matter of the audio recording levels in the courts which have yet to be properly addressed and resolved, so that in some cases everything, including private discussions between counsel and clients, is overheard and recorded.
Then, there are instances of judges who clearly ought to recuse themselves from hearing certain matters who, when it is pointed out to them by counsel, instead of recusing themselves, choose to adjourn matters sine die (without assigning a day for a further hearing). This is not rocket science, but basic law – and it appears that in certain instances, certain judges lack the legal expertise/training to know this, which is shameful. As a consequence the case goes into limbo waiting until the judge recuses him or herself and a new judge can be assigned. This is a decision that any competent judge ought to be able to deliver at once from the bench without even having to call a brief adjournment to think it through.
Meanwhile, the Government gets set to open the Courts June 24, 2011 with no permanent chief justice gazetted who can start the process of repairing the terminal state of the Barbados Justice System.
BU has been hearing whispers that Marston Gibson will be in place by June 24. If he is not able to ascend the bench come next week no doubt it will merely signal more of the same, a denial of justice and business as usual mode to which we have become accustomed from a wholly incompetent Registry and Bench.
The blogmaster invites you to join the discussion.