By Clive Simpson, Freelance WriterWESTERN BUREAU:
APPEAL COURT Judge, Mr. Justice Seymour Panton has come out strongly in defence of the integrity of Jamaican judges.
Their service, he says, "cannot be valued by the number of words they have read or written in their judicial tasks; nor can their service be valued by the number of cases they have tried or determined. One word sums up their service, and that word is 'integrity'."
Justice Panton was speaking Saturday night, at a dinner hosted by the Cornwall Bar Association in honour of outstanding jurists, Donald Bingam, David Pitter and Maurice Reckord at Hotel Commingles in Savanna-la-Mar.
He lauded the Cornwall Bar for honouring the senior Judges, noting that the state has failed to give due recognition to those charged with the responsibility of dispensing justice.
Referring to Justices Bingham, Pitter and Reckord, Mr. Justice Panton observed that, "Had they served in England, as they could have considering that they were all called to the English Bar, they would have been knighted at the moment of their appointment as judges of the High Court."
While that happens in England, he said in Jamaica there appears to be no policy in relation to such matters so far as judges are concerned. But Justice Panton added, "The receipt of national honours is not what judging is about."
He said, "we are committed to doing justice to all persons in all situations who come to the seat of mercy and justice."
Justice Panton went on to spell out what he deemed to be the life and role of a judge. He described the life of a judge as a very lonely one filled with thanklessness and the role very demanding.
"He or she is the easiest person to blame. We are sometimes blamed for not understanding the case, for not appreciating the crucial point and for giving too much leeway to this or that lawyer. We are blamed for a thousand and one things, including the asking of an important question, determines the case. When that happens, it may even be said that the Judge entered the arena, never mind that an injustice was averted."
Justice Panton noted that a judge could not go everywhere, could not mingle and talk to everybody and "We cannot talk about any and everything anywhere. Those privileges are reserved for normal people. The judge, he said, was viewed by some as someone who led an abnormal life, but remained normal in mind and body.
