Est.2007

Barbados Underground

Bringing News and Opinions to the People

Banner promoting anonymous crime reporting with a phone and contact number 1 800 TIPS (8477), featuring the Crime Stoppers logo and a QR code for submitting tips.

Retired Justice Questions Judge Only Trials

← Back

Your message to the BLOGMASTER was sent

CONTACT THE BLOGMASTER ONLY

The following Letter to the Editor appears in today’s (28/04/2020) Nation newspaper in a response to Chief Justice for judge-only trials in criminal cases.

Judge-only trials a concern

I REFER to the suggestion by the Hon. Chief Justice for judge-only trials in criminal cases.

An examination of the reading on this matter indicates that such trials may be only appropriate in circumstances where (1) there is a large amount of forensic material as in the case of white-collar crimes; (2) there is conflicting expert and scientific evidence; and (3) there is an overwhelming amount of media coverage and attention prior to the trial which would raise the concern as to whether the jury could remain unbiased and impartial such as in cases arising from terrorism.

A consideration of the first and third circumstances have been at the heart of the ongoing criminal trial by a judge sitting alone in the Turks and Caicos of its former Premier Michael Misick and four former ministers of government.

Apart from the circumstances outlined above, there is little justification for judge-only trials. Section 41 of Juries Act Cap.115B provides that a jury shall not be kept in deliberation for longer than three hours unless in a civil matter the jury unanimously concur to apply to the trial judge for further time, which application must be granted by the Court.

In the context of Barbados, the question arises as to how many multiples of three hours will be required before the judge determines the matter if the law in Barbados was changed.

– CHRISTOPHER BLACKMAN QC

.

 

Discover more from Barbados Underground

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

66 responses to “Retired Justice Questions Judge Only Trials”

  1. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    I think the biggest question many are currently asking is …..WHICH JUDGE IS THE MOST CORRUPT…

    that is what needs to be addressed BEFORE implementling any scams to save themselves from any further scrutiny..

  2. robert lucas Avatar
    robert lucas

    Because something has been done a certain way for years does not mean that a change is untoward. As

    @WURA-War-on-U April 28, 2020 7:00 AM

    You have hit the nail on the head.

  3. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    @ Robert

    We have been here before, but some people like reinventing the wheel. Do some reading on the so-called Diplock courts, the controversy surrounding it and why we had to get rid of it. Don’t just cut and past from views that fit with our own, read those for and against. This was a debate in the UK in the 1970s, following the Northern Ireland uprisings.
    An accused man should be tried by a jury of his peers; the more serious the allegation the more important is this principle. Book keepers must not tell us how long a trial must go on and at what cost.

  4. Greene Avatar
    Greene

    in certain circumstances trials by a judge or panel of judges make sense. for complex financial matters where citizens may find it difficult to understand the intricacies of some of the transactions or what certain terms mean, where political persons are the defendants and there is fear the jury may be tainted or biased (the Misick trial), and where acts of sedition are alleged.

  5. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    @ Greene

    Judges are not forensic accountants, nor are lawyers. Even in financial trials they have to depend on the expert witnesses. Ordinary people know what is honesty and dishonesty. Judges direct the jury on the law, and the jury make up its mind based on common sense. We are a better educated public these days.

  6. Miller Avatar
    Miller

    (Quote):
    …where political persons are the defendants and there is fear the jury may be tainted or biased (the Misick trial), and where acts of sedition are alleged. (Unquote).

    The Donvillegate case clearly proved that the Jury can indeed use their natural intelligence aka commonsense and inherent appreciation of what is right from wrong to come to the legal and morally right decision on the future of a petty criminal and two-bit jump-up conman from a banana republic in the West Indies.

  7. David Avatar
    David

    @Miller

    Judges are trained to make decisions based on law, Jurors on the FACTS presented. We must also avoid conflating the civil and criminal.

    >

  8. Miller Avatar
    Miller

    @ David April 28, 2020 8:15 AM

    Based on what a ‘higher’ fraternity of ‘learned’ judges (CCJ) have to say it seems Barbados is poorly endowed with those possessing such skills “to make decisions based on law”.

  9. David Avatar
    David

    @Miller

    Judges all over make decisions that will be overturned on appeal. A big part of our problem is administrative issues cum poor technology and the fraternity.

  10. Greene Avatar
    Greene

    @ Hal,

    you are right about jury trial generally but i am telling you juries, unless the court / law allows a specialised jury, do not understand complex financial matters. the donville inniss matter was not complex, and yes expert witnesses do explain but even then most juries are flummoxed.

    there are judges specialised in the area : that is why there are commercial courts.

    another thing if juries were that important why are civil matter, in our jurisdiction, not heard by jury, and why only for certain offences (indictable) ?

  11. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    @ Greene

    The Guinness trial, the Barclays trial, we can list a number of complex financial cases, including all by the SFO. Lawyers are not financial experts – apart from the Bajans – and have to depend on the expert witnesses. Judges interpret the law, which is what they do even in jury trials.
    There is no criminal case more complex and important than a murder trial. Juries sit in on them quite competently. For over 800 years we have had jury trials. We must not le t book keepers cut that short. That is US justice, or what passes as justice in that cowboy country, not what we are used to in more civilised nations.

  12. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    @ Greene

    Our financial court is Southwark. That is just an administrative convenience. We have jury trials at Southwark. Civil cases are different. Criminal cases are decided beyond all reasonable doubt (ie jury), civil on the balance of probabilities (a biased judgement).

  13. Greene Avatar
    Greene

    @David

    our biggest problem is the selection of judges. most of them are lazy and incompetent. a judge is one of the best paid jobs in Bim; the salary is high, the perks are great and there is little if any oversight.

    i know a female judge who works from 11- 1 and wants to become an appeals court judge

    a male one does not like to write his decisions and when he does they are often flawed. he can easily employ a competent junior lawyer / clerk (in the US) to do this but he has gotten away with it for so long he does not appear to care.

    recently, he failed to render a decision in a 4 year matter, and when confronted by a party, said he had conveyed the decision to the woman’s lawyer, which he didnt. the woman cussed out the lawyer accusing him of holding up her matter and stealing her money. the lawyer had to take his own client (the woman) to court for harassment whereupon the client discovered the judge had lied; he had never issued a decision

    that is the horrendous state of our courts. it is bad and that is only a sample, there are some horrible stories i can relate

  14. David Avatar
    David

    @Greene

    Don’t know if there is agreement. The top lawyers in Barbados are not attracted to the bench because they earn many times more in private practice.

  15. Greene Avatar
    Greene

    @Hal

    i have to differ. i know some judges who can decipher complex financial matters better than so called forensic accountant which is a BS title if there is one. expert witness come a dime a dozen. many judges and lawyers nowadays if they want to specialise in the area get financial investigative training which encompasses (company formation, banking laws and transactions and complex rounting of money schemes).

    i myself have extensive training and experience in that area.

    i know about murder trials and never experienced one that was so complex the lay person could not understand it but fraud and financial matters in my experience are viewed differently. at trial they are broken down into component parts that can be understood by the lay person but most of that is agreed in pre trial agreements in the case management phase. we do not so as to not confuse the jury.

    and if you poll most juries you will discover that the didnt decide the matter based on the financial evidence laid but on other matters. the financial portion bores and confuses them

  16. Greene Avatar
    Greene

    @David

    that is true but that is not so for plenty of lawyers; only few at certain firms and of a certain background earn top dollar

  17. Hants Avatar
    Hants

    @ Greene who wrote ” the donville inniss matter was not complex,”

    After the two executives who paid the bribes were protected it was easy to convict the ” last man standing “.

    pay bribe or accept bribe same difference .

  18. Miller Avatar
    Miller

    @ Greene April 28, 2020 9:09 AM

    Excellent analysis of the problem with the judicature in Bim.

    Makes the miller want to apply for the job of your sidekick which Artax, politely, turned down.

    It would be rather ‘appealing’ to hear what the advocate for the defence of the ‘can-do-no-wrong’ BLP administration the learned gentleman “Enuff” has to say about what you just wrote in your watertight judgment on judicial incompetence.

  19. David Avatar
    David

    @Greene

    Top dollar is relative to the immediate discussion. Until shown otherwise this blogmaster is convinced the best legal minds in Barbados are not enticed to sit as judges. A few will for what motivates them like a Jeff Cumberbatch for example.

    >

  20. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    @ Greene

    You have answered your own question. Judges/lawyers who want expertise in financial matters undertake further training. People get training according to their career needs and curiosity. Magic Circle lawyers specialise and are REAL experts. But your common and garden criminal lawyer cannot. So a QC, with no further training, promoted to be a Crown Court judge is unfit, in my opinion, to sit in judgement on a complex financial case.

  21. de pedantic Dribbler Avatar
    de pedantic Dribbler

    @David Blogmaster, isn’t the purpose of a trial whether civil or criminal intended to get to the innocence or guilt (liability) of the plaintiff/accused and in that regard what then is the distinction and background of your statement that “Judges are trained to make decisions based on law, Jurors on the FACTS presented. We must also avoid conflating the civil and criminal.”

    Your statement makes indisputable facts but if we are seeking transparency and an accurate assessment on the FACTS then there is theoretically no practical distinction between civil and criminal and the efficacy of a judge only or jury decided case. Jury cases should ALWAYS be used when the life and liberty of another citizen is at question…. Criminal matters need peer review for all the reasons said above .

    Let’s be bluntly clear: Facts do NOT change because of complexity.

    So to segue to @Greene. Of course commercial cases can be complex and so too can some criminal cases but the real argument (in my view) for any non jury trials is more about the ability to expedite the proceedings in the Judge only matter … and that should only apply in civil matters.

    For example, the issues in the deep dive of the LIBOR case when that Barclays banker was charged with conspiring to fraudulently convert the interest rate in the derivatives markets was beyond complex… which non-professional UNDERSTANDS the complexities of derivatives, interchange, hedging and so on …. but the FACTUAL nature of the case as SIMPLE: Did the bankers commit fraud and manipulate the markets …. NOTHING complex about that!

    That was all the jury was essentially deciding upon … the ability to understand the complexities was relevant in so far as a jury appreciated that these guys were doing lots of calculations and could make lots of money by a basis point change (less than 1%) of the rate…. and control millions of $$ …. but irrelevant to the fundamental question.

  22. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    “that is the horrendous state of our courts. it is bad and that is only a sample, there are some horrible stories i can relate”

    that is the conundrum right now, glad it has finally been exposed, it is a PUBLIC CONCERN….which is the most corrupt, lazy, incompetent judge and which is THE LEAST……

  23. David Avatar
    David

    @Dee Word

    You may want to acquaint yourself with the following article before immersing yourself in …

    https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/1321285.pdf

  24. Greene Avatar
    Greene

    @David

    there is another argument- should a lawyer who never appeared in Court become a judge?

  25. David Avatar
    David

    @Greene

    No is the short answer in this blogmaster’s opinion, we opposed former Adreil Brathwaite being made AG for a similar reason.

  26. de pedantic Dribbler Avatar
    de pedantic Dribbler

    @Mr Blogmaster, I fully respect your knowledge in this area and too that of the bloggers engaged above but for the record I must confront your remark that “Until shown otherwise this blogmaster is convinced the best legal minds in Barbados are not enticed to sit as judges. A few will for what motivates them like a Jeff Cumberbatch for example”

    You made an assertion and then punctured it with the off-hand A few will for what motivates them like a Jeff Cumberbatch for example” Isn’t motivation ALWAYS the reason we act in life.

    You are unintentionally doing an injustice to the intelligence of several jurists not only in Bim but across the region and otherwise with your comment… of course top brains stay in private practice to make more money but as far as I understand the process many great legal thinkers (Douglas, Williams, Simmons and too the current CJ) were enticed to the bench by the perks of life time appointment, (on Simmons we wonder, tho) excellent remuneration with expense allowances etc … that’s the same world wide, bro.

    All of them (again as far as I know) and several other good judges were at the top or close to the top of their ‘class in legal education’ so on what basis are you defining “best legal minds in Barbados”.

    So absolutely to repeat, excellent lawyers stay and make millions in private practice and others (not just a few) will join the bench… just as some judges are piss-poor because they were piss-poor lawyers at private or govt practice.

    So too, however, excellent lawyers stay and make millions in private practice and then move on to the bench in later years… Judge Blackman featured above was one and also Justice Inniss as another… thus I offer that your position is unreasonable and not properly grounded in FACTS 🙂 Just saying!

  27. David Avatar
    David

    @Dee Word

    You have to associate the comment with the one made by Greene re: judges are well paid.

    Capiche?

  28. Greene Avatar
    Greene

    @ David

    i dont recall but did the guy who was a uni lecturer try a case in Bim?

  29. David Avatar
    David

    @Greene

    Do you mean Burgess? The recall is that he is an academic like Jeff. The two are exceptions to the rule.

  30. Greene Avatar
    Greene

    life is a hot or miss so u never know lol

    they are no worse than some of the recent selections we have made

    the best thing AG Marshall did was to hire the guy from Bermuda and give him latitude to set role parameters and trial conduct timelines

    i give the AG a lot of kudos for that

  31. David Avatar
    David

    The judiciary is a hot mess. The problems as you know are not confined to the quality of judges.

  32. Greene Avatar
    Greene

    of course but they are largely responsible for where we are now in that regard

  33. David Avatar
    David

    The fact the judiciary was about to crash under its weigh is as a result of a culture of men in a fraternity preferring to drink Sherry while ignoring files gone missing. Adhering to the rites of the brotherhood. The incestuous nature of our environment. A culture of incompetence of legal officers/entities – the BBA, Disciplinary Committee, lawyer class, successive parliaments, AGs and the list goes on.

  34. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    The fact the judiciary was about to crash under its weigh is as a result of a culture of men in a fraternity preferring to drink Sherry while ignoring files gone missing. Adhering to the rutes of the brotherhood. The incestuous nature of our environment. A culture of incompetence of legal officers/entities – the BBA, Disciplinary Committee, lawyer class, successive parliaments, AGs and the list goes on. (Quote)

    Is this a good description of a failed (and corrupt) state? A culture of incompetence?

  35. Enuff Avatar
    Enuff

    “Both the Magistrates’ and Crown courts have an ongoing backlog of cases, known
    as ‘outstanding cases’. At the end of December 2018, there were 293,000
    outstanding cases in Magistrates’ courts, down from a peak of 327,000 in 2015.
    The Crown Court had 33,000 outstanding cases at the end of 2018, down from a
    peak of 55,000 at the end of 2014.”

    “Meanwhile, the number of outstanding Crown court cases has increased by 1% to 32,708 compared to the previous quarter, breaking a four-year trend.” 26 September 2019

    They surely are not referring to Barbados, the “failed” state.🤐

  36. BMcDonald Avatar
    BMcDonald

    The right to trial by a jury of one’s peers is written into the US constitution. Unless waived this right is broadly avaluable in federal and state courts, in criminal and in civil proceedings.

  37. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    Again, the education system needs an overhaul….a massive one.

    Barbados’ population STILL…..285,000 …THOUSAND PEOPLE

    UK’s population STILL…67 MILLION PEOPLE

    where is the comparison to a corrupt tiny judiciary, that lives and breathes pure corruption, on a tiny island 21L X 14W… with a black majority population…

    where Black people can get NO JUSTICE….

    ….a judiciary mismanaged by ONLY BLACK FACES…who have been ROBBING THE ELDERLY and their beneficiaries of estates, money, their very futures etc for DECADES.

    …..WHERE FILES DISAPPEAR….as a rule…

    where judges are openly accused of being corrupt and compromising cases for SELF GAIN, destroying lives, refusing to hand down decisions, creating decades of backlogs, MALICIOUSLY adjourning cases for years on end or but putting them to the side and REFUSING to ever finish them, just because they see themselves as invincible and untouchable and are protected by the corrupt in the parliament,,..

    ……where insurances companies are KNOWN to corrupt the court processes..so that justice is never served..

    ah mean, UK is not my favorite island, but where is the comparison, i fail to see it…

  38. Charles Knights Avatar
    Charles Knights

    I like the discussion and have followed it with some interest. I have noticed the certainty with which “opinions” are expressed, no room for doubt. It is nice to be so certain but trials are often complex.
    Brave is the man/woman who thinks after listening to the evidence the case before them is rather “simple”.

  39. cpilgrimeaqaolcom Avatar
    cpilgrimeaqaolcom

    @ BMcD:

    Beyond shibboleth, as a practical matter, was there a “jury of his peers” empaneled in Donville Inniss’s case?

    In Dudus Coke’s case following his extradition to the US? And, the several other Jamaican defendants similarly extradited to face criminal trials, especially drug trials in the US, over decades?

    Even in the Guyanese Roger Khan’s criminal case?

    I do not mean to suggest that these criminal defendants were innocent or improperly convicted. Nor do I mean to suggest that “trial by a jury of one’s peers” is absolute bogus; but that as a practical argument the notion is of limited use. It is also unlikely to prevail as a winning argument on appeal.

    It simply speaks to what might be important at some rhetorical, aspirational, declaratory level, rather than what is important at the material, more practical, operational level. It might even give a gloss of legitimacy to otherwise illegitimate actions by the legal system. Hence, the sometime issue of “jury nullification” in the US.

  40. Miller Avatar
    Miller

    @ Enuff April 28, 2020 4:35 PM

    Not even vintage political yard birds like Ms Mariposa, the paling cock of DLP propaganda, would stoop so low to lick political ass as you have done in your attempt to mislead and beguile.

    Even WURA the Salemite’s long-gone booboo of mistaking Hinds as the duly elected representative to the HoA for the constituency of St. Thomas can surpass your attempt to compare the “failed state” of the UK judicial case load with that of Lilliputian Bim which can keep people on remand or even bail for a decade without taking into primary consideration the vast difference in population size.

    Even your Salemite nemesis had to do you a favour by pointing out your intellectual shortcoming. You need to thank her for that!

    Why not provide the backlog statistics (and population size) for Bim so that we can compare British apples with Bajan oranges?

    Why not compare the backlog in cases in Barbados with, say, the Bahamas or even St. Lucia of Bermuda?

    Now that would allow Bim to fight in her real weight division!

  41. David Avatar
    David

    @Miller

    Why do we continue to frame arguments based on tick for tack? We all agree the judicial service is inefficient, has successive governments done enough, NO. Has this government done enough the answer will still be NO because there has been no appreciable improvement to delivering cases. The fact the incumbent government has hired a few judges and tweaked the laws makes for good defense but until we see a major uptick in how justice is dispense we are no further along.

    Let us make a point and move on to the next constructive engagement. It is no different to Grenville coming every week with the argument we should have closed the borders a few days sooner. This may be so by citizens want to hear and see more.

  42. Hants Avatar
    Hants

    @ Piece the Legend
    A pretty face lady delivering the same message as you with a softer politicaly correct tone.

    You say dictatorship she says ” “unilateral authoritarian rule”.

    “The People’s Party for Democracy and Development (PdP) has accused the Mia-Mottley Government of using the ongoing state of emergency along with its overwhelming majority in Parliament to move towards “unilateral authoritarian rule”.

    https://barbadostoday.bb/2020/04/29/pdp-charges-that-democracy-is-in-peril/

  43. Mariposa Avatar
    Mariposa

    Barbados is beyond hope when so called intellectuals can endorse or advocate people civil rights be gone

  44. BMcDonald Avatar
    BMcDonald

    All the defendants in US courts identified above were judged by a jury panel of citizens which both sides had input in choosing. They accepted that the persons on the panel were able to understand the issues and honor their oath. The proposal that only judicial officers in a system often severely xriticized by the CCJ tends towards elitism, Jury nullification speaks only to the ability of counsel in a matter being able to persuade 12 regular citizens as to what is fair.

  45. Miller Avatar
    Miller

    @ David April 29, 2020 7:23 AM

    There is NO defence for downright lies and politically-pampered propaganda in any space especially when the country can least afford the wastage of scarce taxpayers-funded resources.

    A similar argument was framed to justify the appointment of the current Czar of judicature.

    Throwing money at problem without correctly identifying the cause(s) will only put a band aid over the deep cancerous wound.

    Why not consult your dead friend “Amused” or even the disappeared Bush Tea to understand what the citizens are up against?

    “For the cause that lacks assistance, the wrong that needs resistance, for the future in the distance, and the good that [BU] can do – George Linnaeus Banks”

  46. David Avatar
    David

    @Miller

    How would you have gone about re implementing justice reform measures? We need to move the discussion from the unproductive.

  47. Hants Avatar
    Hants

    @ David,

    Do lawyers get their fees before a case goes to court ?

    If their client is sent to jail and is on remand for a few years does the lawyer have to wait for his fee ?

    Lengthy remand can be a training ground for hardened criminals and repeat offenders.

  48. David Avatar
    David

    @Hants

    How they charge is ad hoc. Many of them require a deposit upfront an as the case progresses through the court system will ask for portions of the fee that is outstanding. If the face of the case changes some will add to the fee.

  49. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    “Why not compare the backlog in cases in Barbados with, say, the Bahamas or even St. Lucia of Bermuda?

    Now that would allow Bim to fight in her real weight division!”

    they too love punching above some delusional weight and WITH TOTAL LACK OF INTELLIGENCE.

  50. Miller Avatar
    Miller

    @ David April 29, 2020 7:57 AM

    By first putting into effective legislation the long outstanding recommendations contained in the report(s) prepared by the Law Reform Committee(s) over the years.

    How about the long promised ITAL and FOI or another pandemic in alleged corruption has to invade Barbados before these planks of democracy and accountability are put in place?

    Kammie Holder, on another blogs, sums it rather tellingly.

    Many of the cases appearing before the Courts -which are incompetently rescheduled over a period of 5 years before a trial is heard and in many cases, dismissed because of the effluxion of time- can be dealt with by way of fines or on-the-spot penalties.

    Why should a person appear before a court for shoplifting or stealing a can of corned beef and be sent to prison whether on remand or for a year?

    Many, too, are just repeat offenders suffering from mental illnesses; easy targets for those incapable of handling white collar crime.

    How about mitigating the influence of the local incestuous society of friends among the law enforcement agencies and social friends/lodge/school buddies on the bench by appointing a larger number of expatriates on 5-year contracts and make better use of the judicial officers serving the circuit court in the East Caribbean as pertained under the previous Colonial system of the administration of justice?

    Do you believe that throwing taxpayers’ money in the same sieve where files disappear will stop the bleeding wound of justice practised in Bim?

    The treatment of Abijah’s mum is the stark representation of the failed state of justice in Bim.

    And on that score your friendly blogger Hal Austin is “SPOT ON”.

The blogmaster invites you to join the discussion.

Trending

Discover more from Barbados Underground

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading