Barbara Gayle, Staff Reporter
THE HILARY session of the Home Circuit Court opened Monday with concerns being raised about the 'creaking' justice system, the increase in violent crimes and the huge backlog of cases, particularly of murder and sexual offence cases on the court list.
There are 205 cases listed for trial during the term, of which 87 are murder cases while 54 are sexual offence cases.
Prosecutor Gail Walters said the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions was committed this term to redoubling its efforts to reduce the list by half. She referred to problems which the courts faced, chief of which was absent witnesses. She said the witnesses were indicating quite frequently their unwillingness to come forward to testify and "that is the real problem plaguing the department".
Arlene Harrison-Henry, president of the Jamaican Bar Association, in pledging support on behalf of the private Bar to assist in reducing the backlog, said that "violent crime is the main concern of every man, woman and child in the society". She said last year a number of children were killed, some by gunfire and others by fire.
PUBLIC DISCUSSION
She said there was "so much" public discussion about the administration of justice and that was welcomed. She referred to the recent announcement of plans to improve the justice system and said if those plans were implemented then we could live up to the mission statement of the courts which was a 'Timely delivery of a high standard of justice for all'.
Lord Anthony Gifford, Q.C., said that at "this time" when justice was very much under the spotlight, it was important that we affirm that the system of justice in Jamaica had integrity on the Bench and at the Bar. He pointed out that the justice system was lacking in resources and efficiency and pleaded with those in authority to make the necessary allocations because the 'creaking system' could not sustain the justice which our people needed.
In response to the comments, Mr. Justice King, who officially opened the new session which was marked with a colourful ceremony, said that in recent times the system of justice came under close scrutiny and described that as being healthy.
He said it must be borne in mind that our justice system had evolved over centuries. He added that we must be careful not to misinterpret the observance of those times as being anything other than a respect for the need to do what must be done to ensure fairness in our sincere search for truth. Justice King called on the nation to remember the presumption of innocence and also remember that in criminal trials, we observed certain safeguards for the benefit of all accused.
