JUSTICE FOR JUDGES!
Speaking at the Annual Assize Service to mark the start of the Michaelmas term for St James yesterday, the chief justice highlighted the plight of the parish court in St James as one in need of urgent attention.
"For judges to [dispense justice] properly and adequately in our second city, Montego Bay, it should be done in appropriate circumstances. And I think the time has come now when the question of providing judges with proper courthouses and courtrooms needs to be settled.
"The parish court in St James sits right next to a gully that overflows its banks from time to time and, despite the raising of the walls, whenever there is a great downpour of rain, it overflows. And it has done so — I think we can stop counting now — on many occasions; it is now well established," the chief justice told the gathering.
"Whenever there is a heavy downpour of rain or it looks as if there is going to be a heavy downpour, lawyers, litigants and judges, while addressing cases, have to be looking out to see if the drops have started, because they know that they should not wait around for too long because their cars might be flooded and they may be unable to retrieve them, and that has happened on innumerable occasions," the chief justice said.
"I think the time has come to an end the search for an appropriate space to locate the court, and it must be in a place that is befitting and consistent with the dignity of what the judiciary and what courts are about," he added.
In the meantime, the chief justice said the St James Family Court was also a matter of concern.
"One of the unfortunate things about our legal system is that temporary solutions have a way of continuing for too long. For example, where the Family Court is located in Montego Bay, that was supposed to be a temporary solution, but in Jamaica, temporary has become 30 years.
"I am now meeting persons who started their careers there when it started, and they are now retiring, and these are persons who came in their late teens, early 20s, so it tells you it has been there for too long," he pointed out.
Chief Justice Sykes said the Westmoreland Family Court is also another entity in a precarious situation as it currently stands in another flood-prone area.
"And these are the conditions under which judges, lawyers, litigants have to seek justice.
"So, if we want to minimise judicial errors, we need to put the judges, lawyers, litigants and everyone in circumstances where they don't have to be worrying about whether the rain is going to fall heavily or not, whether the place is going to be flooded, and it must be appropriate," the chief justice declared.
"And so, as we continue to strive for justice, truth, and let those be ours forever, let us also address, shall we say, justice for the judges?" he said.
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