Delroy Chuck
THE MONOPOLY of goods and services is the worst curse of consumers.
Competition benefits consumers. Just look how the telecommunication industry is being revolutionised and improved with the telecom giants lowering prices, offering new services, pampering customers, and fighting for market share.
Compare the improved service with the Jamaica Public Service, the National Water Commission, the Cement Company and government services. In the delivery of justice, if only we could open it to competition and make it more consumer-friendly and consumer-driven.
POLICE STATIONS
For a start, in our police stations, do we get summary justice or even the appearance of justice? Police stations serve the public but do they do so in a friendly and helpful manner?
To be sure, we do not expect the police to settle complex or involved disputes between parties but that doesn't stop them from using their common sense.
Experience teaches that it is easy to accuse but difficult to prove. Thus, when there is no available evidence, save and except a verbal complaint, police officers should be reluctant to detain or charge accused persons without more information.
Many criminal complaints should be thrown out before they reach court and avoid the costs, inconvenience, and emotional drain to litigants.
Similarly, attorneys-at-law are partly responsible for the undue and heavy burden on the court system. Many civil cases could be settled out of court, if only attorneys properly advise their clients, emphasise reasonableness and encourage their clients to give and take in the interest of an amicable settlement.
Invariably, an early and partly satisfactory settlement is in the best interests of the parties; more often than not, a court case benefits only the attorneys.
ATTORNEYS
In a friendly justice system, attorneys would urge their clients to reach a settlement instead of battling in the hostile and cold environment of the courtroom.
Nowadays, case management and compulsory dispute resolution meetings are meant to ease the hard and uncompromising line between the parties, but the winner take all syndrome still drives too many.
For the ordinary citizen, courthouses are dismal, strange and inhospitable, instead of receptive and friendly places, which is what they ought to be.
They are supposed to serve the public but do they? How many of our courthouses have information or reception desks to cater to litigants and witnesses, many of whom are attending court for the first time?
Then, do our judges have to be so rude, aggressive and combative? To be sure, judges must be firm, assertive and unambiguous in their behaviour and rulings and, when they manage their courts well, cases flow speedily.
However, without sacrificing the decorum and dignity of the courts, it is time they become consumer-oriented, competitive-minded and determined to provide a timely and satisfactory delivery of justice.
In fact, the dignity, decorum and delivery of the courts would improve enormously if our judges were considered service providers and regularly assessed on their performance.
ACCOUNTABILITY
I accept that the independence of our judges must never be compromised, but there should be accountability in our courts. If our judges and courthouses were regularly assessed, a better quality of justice could be demanded and delivered.
To be sure, there are many judges who serve our courts well but even more is demanded if we are to deliver a better quality of justice. In a global competitive environment, the speedy and uncompromising delivery of justice is a major influence for investing multinational firms.
So, even as judges provide a monopoly service, they need to think outside the box, act as if they were in a competitive mode and, steadfastly, provide the best service.
Delroy Chuck is an attorney-at-law and Member of Parliament. He can be contacted by email at Delchuck@hotmail.com.
