Courts need better administration
tribune242 editorial:
A RETIRED police officer is concerned that no matter how many judges are brought in to strengthen the Bench, nor how many court buildings are constructed or renovated in which more cases can be heard, nothing is going to reduce the court's logjam until the judicial system is better administered.
Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham himself recognises this. In his budget address to the House in which he outlined government's proposals to improve the system, he acknowledged that "notwithstanding efforts made in the past we have not been nearly as effective as The Bahamas deserves in the administration of the judicial and legal system."
A new director of public prosecutions is arriving in August to take up the post with two persons already in the Attorney General's office elevated to the positions of deputy prosecutors. Mr Ingraham said that there has been "a serious problem with the management of criminal cases -- a problem of untold magnitude."
That problem is reflected in the community causing Police Commissioner Ellison Greenslade to acknowledge that on the crime scene today most victims and those committing murders have previously been arrested and charged in connection with other serious crimes. Often, said the Commissioner, they have been arraigned in a Magistrate's court on charges of murder, or illegal firearms, drug possession, armed robbery or other violent crimes and released on bail.
Once they have been freed they return to their communities and continue committing crimes, allowing violence to permeate the neighbourhoods, he said. In other words the revolving door syndrome has suffocated our courts, because cases are not being dealt with efficiently. The root cause? Adjournments.
Mr Paul Thompson, retired deputy commissioner of police, said that recently a person accused of a minor offence wanted to visit Miami, but a court date was interfering with his plans. His lawyer told him not to worry, to go ahead as he would arrange an adjournment.
"That," said Mr Thompson, "would have never happened under Magistrate Wilton Hercules. In the old days you had to appear in person before the magistrate and request an adjournment." Magistrate Hercules, feared by the criminal class, would have probably refused the request -- particularly if it was frivolous. He would have proceeded with the case. No one did foolishness in his court, and everything moved on time. But today there is adjournment after adjournment -- many stretching into years -- is the order of the day. No wonder the cases are stacking up and gathering dust and witnesses are either losing their memories or disappearing.
Another problem, said Mr Thompson, is that an accused person has a constitutional right to choose his own lawyer. Suppose, said Mr Thompson, you have a hundred accused asking for the same lawyer, then immediately cases start backing up until the overbooked lawyer is available to take each case in turn. This, said Mr Thompson, is a major problem that has to be solved if the court calendar is to move smoothly.
Mr Thompson referred to a case that was due in court on Wednesday for final judgment. The case involved the possession of 2,500 rounds of ammunition, hidden in baby clothing. It was discovered by Customs when it arrived by boat at Kelly's dock in early 2008. For two years there was adjournment after adjournment. On Wednesday -- which was supposed to be the final day -- the case was again adjourned, this time to September 16.
"Imagine," exclaimed Mr Thompson, "a simple case of possession that should have taken the court an half hour to an hour has now taken two years and is not yet finished!"
Another case in which he was interested was also set down for Wednesday. It was a case of the arrest of a sole occupant of a car that contained several guns -- Ruger, Remington and Maverick - and several rounds of ammunition. That arrest was made on October 23, 2006 -- nearly four years ago. It was set down for hearing on the prosecutor's list for this Wednesday. However, when Mr Thompson arrived at court on Wednesday, he was told that it was not on the prosecutor's list for that day or any other day for that matter. So what has happened? Is it just going to slide over the edge and get lost?
Mr Thompson named many other simple cases that should have occupied very little time on the calendar, yet they have been dragged over the years. While he was at the court on Wednesday a case for firearm possession came up. "It was a simple possession case," said Mr Thompson, "where only three police witness were needed -- the two officers to tell the magistrate what they found and a third officer from the Armoury to testify that the firearm being held was listed under the Firearms Act. Yet this case was adjourned to March next year."
On Monday we shall tell how this problem was nipped in the bud in 1980 when no-show witnesses -- particularly police officers -- never turned up to give evidence.
When Pericles Maillis acted for a time as magistrate he issued a warrant for the immediate arrest of a police constable who had not shown up to give his testimony. The constable, brought to court under arrest, was made to wait in the prisoner's dock until the case was called. He complained of being "embarrassed."
If this non-appearance continues, said Mr Maillis at the time, there "is going to be a breakdown in law and order in the Bahamas."
And that is exactly what has happened -- it continued and it broke down. Until the individual courts are better managed, cases will continue to take up unnecessary space.
July 02, 2010
tribune242 editorial
A political blog about Bahamian politics in The Bahamas, Bahamian Politicans - and the entire Bahamas political lot. Bahamian Blogger Dennis Dames keeps you updated on the political news and views throughout the islands of The Bahamas without fear or favor. Bahamian Politicians and the Bahamian Political Arena: Updates one Post at a time on Bahamas Politics and Bahamas Politicans; and their local, regional and international policies and perspectives.
