jamaica-gleaner editorial
A former chief justice of the US Supreme Court is reported to have said: "Power of the judiciary lies not in deciding cases, nor in imposing sentences, nor in punishing for contempt, but in the trust, faith and confidence of the common man."
In recent days, Jamaica's justice system has come under the microscope once again, with Justice Minister Delroy Chuck speaking out about corruption and the heavy backlog of cases. He described a system in flux as he addressed new lawyers who were graduating from the University of the West Indies.
Against that background we ask the question: How does the common man in Jamaica feel about our justice system that is hopelessly clogged with cases?
For many years we have heard cries of injustice coming from inner-city folk who have become frustrated with the system. From time to time, we have heard their sharp criticism of a system that they believe serves only the interests of those with connections and money.
The justice minister made it clear, during his address, that the overburdened courts of Jamaica are not properly serving the common man. Indeed, the course of justice is obstructed when cases are allowed to drag on for years. So what is Mr Chuck going to do about this cloud that hangs over the justice system?
The minister spoke about some of the options to remedy the huge case backlog that has resulted in lengthy delays. For example, he is proposing that courts extend their hours of operation so that more cases can be tried. It would appear that the introduction of night court for traffic offences has worked well, so it seems that this suggestion may have merit.
harsh criticism
One of the reasons cited for the ballooning caseload in courts across the country is the lack of judges. Given the meagre budget allocated to the Ministry of Justice and the fiscal bind which has entrapped Jamaica, it is unclear how the Government would pay for salaries for more judges, clerks and other support staff.
There is also the matter of lawyers doing clever dances, which have also put a spoke in the wheel. In the scheme of things, shouldn't there be legislation setting concrete parameters and rigorous timelines for the management of cases?
The work of the police has also come in for harsh criticism. It is not enough to talk about the back-door deals that go on among police, criminals and witnesses. We need an aggressive campaign to tackle the problem before it becomes more deeply entrenched. There has to be a resolve to investigate, prosecute and punish those who tarnish the quality of justice.
Opposition spokesman on justice, attorney-at-law Mark Golding, also recognises the impact that corruption has on the system and appears willing to work with the Government in finding solutions to the problem. The crisis calls for unequivocal leadership and cooperation between the Opposition and Government, a welcome step which we hope will be more than mere gesture. Working together, we can find a strategy to undo the damage to the judiciary and have a fair and equitable system.
It is clear that the courts need serious overhaul to improve efficiency and public perception of the country's ability to dispense transparent and true justice.
October 15, 2011
jamaica-gleaner editorial
An International Caribbean Online Log about the news and opinions in the Americas and World. This Caribbean Blog of global reach and appeal is maintained by Bahamian Blogger - Dennis Dames with all readers and subscribers in mind.
Showing posts with label Jamaica's justice system. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jamaica's justice system. Show all posts
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Friday, October 14, 2011
The Bahamas cannot continue to follow in Jamaica's criminal shadow...
Criminals — Jamaica and Bahamas’ problems
tribune242 editorial
Nassau, The Bahamas
JAMAICA, which has been working hard to get its crime under control, seems to have taken a long slide backwards in recent months.
Even more worrying is the corruption that Justice Minister Delroy Chuck -- in an address on Saturday to graduates of the Norman Manley Law School-- says has reached a formidable level in Jamaica's legal system.
He told graduates, entering a system threatened by corruption, that one of his ministry's priorities under the Justice Reform Programme was "to build trust and confidence in the justice system".
"There is corruption within the court and the justice system, where the police have been paid to say they cannot find a witness, or persons have been paid to have documents destroyed - amongst many other things," he told the graduates.
"Cases languish on the books for years with very little progress, clients become frustrated and cannot move on with their lives, sometimes they appease their grievances by taking justice into their own hands," Monday's Daily Gleaner quoted Justice Minister Chuck as saying.
Reported the Gleaner: "He noted that developments in the system leave lawyers with a bad reputation as being of no help while the justice system gets a bad reputation of being of no use.
"Our judges are known for their integrity and fair play but so much more is required of them," Justice Chuck told the graduates, who he urged not to contribute to the problems when they go into practice.
"They (the judges) must assist in removing any taint of corruption, vulgarity or malpractice that may exist and they must help us to strengthen public trust and confidence in the justice system."
He said hundreds of thousands of cases had been in the court system for eight months -- some even for years.
Last year, said the justice minister, there were almost 460,000 cases before the courts -- with more than half being a backlog.
He said that stemming the backlog was everybody's business as it posed a real threat to the nation's economy.
Many years ago, Sir Etienne Dupuch sounded like a broken record as he constantly urged, through this same column, that Bahamians get a handle on crime - which at that time was nothing to what it is today.
He warned that the Bahamas was following down the same dead-end path as Jamaica.
According to the US International Safety and Travel alert "violence and shootings occur regularly in certain areas of Kingston and Montego Bay".
As for the Bahamas: "The Bahamas has a high crime rate. New Providence Island in particular has experienced a spike in crime that has adversely affected the travelling public... The Bahamas has the highest incidence of rape in the Caribbean according to a 2007 United Nations report on crime, violence, and development trends."
In Jamaica recently, gangs not only kill, but behead their adversaries. They then hide the head, obviously to make identification more difficult.
The Daily Gleaner reported a Jamaican police officer moaning: "This haffi stop, it has to. But the justice system not working for us (police). You hold a man for murder, him go jail, and him get bail and is back on the road again. It can't work!"
Sound familiar? No, it can't work and it won't work.
This is the very matter that will be discussed in the House of Assembly in this session as government prepares to crack down on criminals by amending the Criminal Procedure Code.
The Bahamas cannot continue to follow in Jamaica's criminal shadow.
October 11, 2011
tribune242 editorial
tribune242 editorial
Nassau, The Bahamas
JAMAICA, which has been working hard to get its crime under control, seems to have taken a long slide backwards in recent months.
Even more worrying is the corruption that Justice Minister Delroy Chuck -- in an address on Saturday to graduates of the Norman Manley Law School-- says has reached a formidable level in Jamaica's legal system.
He told graduates, entering a system threatened by corruption, that one of his ministry's priorities under the Justice Reform Programme was "to build trust and confidence in the justice system".
"There is corruption within the court and the justice system, where the police have been paid to say they cannot find a witness, or persons have been paid to have documents destroyed - amongst many other things," he told the graduates.
"Cases languish on the books for years with very little progress, clients become frustrated and cannot move on with their lives, sometimes they appease their grievances by taking justice into their own hands," Monday's Daily Gleaner quoted Justice Minister Chuck as saying.
Reported the Gleaner: "He noted that developments in the system leave lawyers with a bad reputation as being of no help while the justice system gets a bad reputation of being of no use.
"Our judges are known for their integrity and fair play but so much more is required of them," Justice Chuck told the graduates, who he urged not to contribute to the problems when they go into practice.
"They (the judges) must assist in removing any taint of corruption, vulgarity or malpractice that may exist and they must help us to strengthen public trust and confidence in the justice system."
He said hundreds of thousands of cases had been in the court system for eight months -- some even for years.
Last year, said the justice minister, there were almost 460,000 cases before the courts -- with more than half being a backlog.
He said that stemming the backlog was everybody's business as it posed a real threat to the nation's economy.
Many years ago, Sir Etienne Dupuch sounded like a broken record as he constantly urged, through this same column, that Bahamians get a handle on crime - which at that time was nothing to what it is today.
He warned that the Bahamas was following down the same dead-end path as Jamaica.
According to the US International Safety and Travel alert "violence and shootings occur regularly in certain areas of Kingston and Montego Bay".
As for the Bahamas: "The Bahamas has a high crime rate. New Providence Island in particular has experienced a spike in crime that has adversely affected the travelling public... The Bahamas has the highest incidence of rape in the Caribbean according to a 2007 United Nations report on crime, violence, and development trends."
In Jamaica recently, gangs not only kill, but behead their adversaries. They then hide the head, obviously to make identification more difficult.
The Daily Gleaner reported a Jamaican police officer moaning: "This haffi stop, it has to. But the justice system not working for us (police). You hold a man for murder, him go jail, and him get bail and is back on the road again. It can't work!"
Sound familiar? No, it can't work and it won't work.
This is the very matter that will be discussed in the House of Assembly in this session as government prepares to crack down on criminals by amending the Criminal Procedure Code.
The Bahamas cannot continue to follow in Jamaica's criminal shadow.
October 11, 2011
tribune242 editorial
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Courts -- a nation's sovereignty
Tribune242.com editorial:
MANY BAHAMIANS thought that by ridding themselves of the Privy Council as this country's last court of appeal our judicial system could retain the death penalty. Although the Privy Council is still our final court of appeal, and although a large number of Bahamians still favour its retention, it is quickly losing its attraction for those who want to retain the gallows for convicted murderers.
"Hang 'em high!" is still the angry reaction in this country as Bahamians defend capital punishment as the final solution to the growing murder count.
However, it now seems that the Privy Council is not the only stumbling block to retaining the death penalty.
According to Tuesday's Gleaner of Jamaica, the European Union is starting to show its mighty muscles by threatening to withdraw grant funds if Jamaica does not employ an additional Supreme Court judge.
According to The Gleaner Jamaica's Justice Minister Dorothy Lightbourne explained that she had to "follow the dictate of the powerful bloc of countries in order to benefit from grant funds they have provided."
The conditions, the Justice Minister told Parliament last week during the sitting of the joint select committee, have to do with fighting corruption and to improve the justice system. "They have said we should increase judges and we have brought on one judge."
Drawing attention to the notation in the 2010/2011 Estimates of Expenditure, which read: "One additional judge has already been hired to meet the European Union condition," MP Dr Morais Guy commented:
"I would be happy if I am told that this is just a wrong choice of terminology because I cannot see how they are imposing conditions on the sovereign country of Jamaica."
He was told that the money granted by the EU was going towards improving Jamaica's justice system. Guidelines were set out as a condition of the grant. An addition of judges was one of the conditions if funds were to be forthcoming.
And so as the EU could threaten to withhold grant funds over a judge, it could also threaten to withdraw much needed funds if the Bahamas insisted on retaining the death penalty in its legal system.
As a matter of fact this threat was seriously discussed in our private office several years ago by a visiting European ambassador paying a courtesy call on his annual tour of duty.
We believe that this discussion took place around 1993 when the hot topic on the street at that time -- and of much concern to Bahamians -- was the Privy Council's decision that two Bahamians could not be hanged because they had been languishing on death row for more than five years. To hang them after five years would amount to inhumane treatment, the Council ruled. This meant that the sentences of all those then on death row for five years or more had their sentences automatically commuted to life imprisonment. It also set out a time frame for the future.
On being asked public opinion on the abolition of the death penalty in the Bahamas, we explained that we believed that Prime Minister Ingraham was an abolitionist, but that most Bahamians were strongly for its retention. However, if capital punishment remained on the statute books, the Prime Minister would uphold the law. It was then that the ambassador threw down the gauntlet.
And what would happen, he asked, if the EU withdrew all grants from the Bahamas unless capital punishment were abolished?
We replied that the Bahamas would then have to face a serious issue. However, we believed it would be considered a bullying tactic by a powerful European bloc against a small, defenceless nation, especially with the mighty US next door, where many states still used the electric chair to get rid of its murderers. We suggested that they flex their muscles with the US first, and then they could come and talk with the Bahamas.
What is now interesting is that England is becoming nervous about the clout that the European Court of Humane Rights is having over the UK courts.
In defending his country's national sovereignty, the Lord Chief Justice -- Lord Judge -- has declared that the English Supreme Court must have the final say in its own jurisdiction, and that common law -- which is common sense built up over more than 800 years, going as far back as legal memory (1189) -- must be defended and preserved.
April 08, 2010
tribune242
MANY BAHAMIANS thought that by ridding themselves of the Privy Council as this country's last court of appeal our judicial system could retain the death penalty. Although the Privy Council is still our final court of appeal, and although a large number of Bahamians still favour its retention, it is quickly losing its attraction for those who want to retain the gallows for convicted murderers.
"Hang 'em high!" is still the angry reaction in this country as Bahamians defend capital punishment as the final solution to the growing murder count.
However, it now seems that the Privy Council is not the only stumbling block to retaining the death penalty.
According to Tuesday's Gleaner of Jamaica, the European Union is starting to show its mighty muscles by threatening to withdraw grant funds if Jamaica does not employ an additional Supreme Court judge.
According to The Gleaner Jamaica's Justice Minister Dorothy Lightbourne explained that she had to "follow the dictate of the powerful bloc of countries in order to benefit from grant funds they have provided."
The conditions, the Justice Minister told Parliament last week during the sitting of the joint select committee, have to do with fighting corruption and to improve the justice system. "They have said we should increase judges and we have brought on one judge."
Drawing attention to the notation in the 2010/2011 Estimates of Expenditure, which read: "One additional judge has already been hired to meet the European Union condition," MP Dr Morais Guy commented:
"I would be happy if I am told that this is just a wrong choice of terminology because I cannot see how they are imposing conditions on the sovereign country of Jamaica."
He was told that the money granted by the EU was going towards improving Jamaica's justice system. Guidelines were set out as a condition of the grant. An addition of judges was one of the conditions if funds were to be forthcoming.
And so as the EU could threaten to withhold grant funds over a judge, it could also threaten to withdraw much needed funds if the Bahamas insisted on retaining the death penalty in its legal system.
As a matter of fact this threat was seriously discussed in our private office several years ago by a visiting European ambassador paying a courtesy call on his annual tour of duty.
We believe that this discussion took place around 1993 when the hot topic on the street at that time -- and of much concern to Bahamians -- was the Privy Council's decision that two Bahamians could not be hanged because they had been languishing on death row for more than five years. To hang them after five years would amount to inhumane treatment, the Council ruled. This meant that the sentences of all those then on death row for five years or more had their sentences automatically commuted to life imprisonment. It also set out a time frame for the future.
On being asked public opinion on the abolition of the death penalty in the Bahamas, we explained that we believed that Prime Minister Ingraham was an abolitionist, but that most Bahamians were strongly for its retention. However, if capital punishment remained on the statute books, the Prime Minister would uphold the law. It was then that the ambassador threw down the gauntlet.
And what would happen, he asked, if the EU withdrew all grants from the Bahamas unless capital punishment were abolished?
We replied that the Bahamas would then have to face a serious issue. However, we believed it would be considered a bullying tactic by a powerful European bloc against a small, defenceless nation, especially with the mighty US next door, where many states still used the electric chair to get rid of its murderers. We suggested that they flex their muscles with the US first, and then they could come and talk with the Bahamas.
What is now interesting is that England is becoming nervous about the clout that the European Court of Humane Rights is having over the UK courts.
In defending his country's national sovereignty, the Lord Chief Justice -- Lord Judge -- has declared that the English Supreme Court must have the final say in its own jurisdiction, and that common law -- which is common sense built up over more than 800 years, going as far back as legal memory (1189) -- must be defended and preserved.
April 08, 2010
tribune242
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)