Justice Minister A.J. Nicholson (left) and Chief Justice Lensley Wolfe at a justice graduation in April. - Winston Sill/Freelance Photographer

The Gun Court, which was set up to try gun offences within seven days, has a notoriously huge backlog. Chief Justice Lensley Wolfe and Mr. Justice Donald McIntosh reduced the backlog significantly in early 2006, after lawyers complained to The Gleaner about the backlog, but it continues to rise. Checks revealed last week that in 2006, a total of 711 new cases were added to the Gun Court list.

Each week, two high court judges preside over separate daily sittings in the Gun Court in Kingston which is at the Supreme Court building, downtown Kingston. From Monday, March 19 to Thursday, March 22, 2007, for instance, there were a total of 51 cases before the Gun Court, 28 listed before one judge and 23 before the other. (Fridays are usually reserved for mention and other date-setting matters.)

A judge could have from six to eight cases on his or her trial list each day, but it is rare for more than two cases to be completed on any trial day.

In the Corporate Area's RM division of the Gun Court, Half-Way Tree, which conducts preliminary inquiries in cases involving the use of the gun, the daily case load of the single RM is estimated to be twice as high as the case load in the Gun Court in King-ston. The list in the RM Court has anywhere from 60 to 70 cases each week.

Lawyers say it is "frightening" that the daily disposal rate at Half-Way Tree is just about two per week because many of those accused are in custody.

The Regional Gun Court, presided over by a High Court Judge, sits in Montego Bay, the second city, where an RM division of the Gun Court also hears preliminary inquiries.

Daily increase

According to attorney-at-law Lloyd McFarlane, because of the large numbers of arrests in Jamaica for gun crimes, the backlog in the Gun Court continues to increase daily. He suggested that the office of the DPP weed out cases on the Gun Court list that "are going nowhere" and thus reduce the workload of judges who have to throw out such cases. He pointed outthat Jamaica has a crime problem and adequate resources were needed to deal with the problem.

The Night Court, which sits from 5:00-9:00 p.m., is credited with having reduced the RM Court backlog somewhat, but the problem with it, according to one RM, is that the stipend for night court session has remained the same since its inception in September 1995 and as a result, RMs are reluctant to volunteer to serve there.

No regard for Coroner's Courts

Coroner's Courts (a section of the RM Courts) which seem to be treated by the powers that be with even less regard than the Criminal and Civil divisions of the RM Courts, are overwhelmed by backlogs, with scores of inquests not having started even after years have gone by. Figures for 2005 show that 2,137 cases were sent to Coroners' Court islandwide that year but only 437 were disposed of, leaving a backlog of 1,700, an average of 130 for each of the 13 Coroners' Courts. In 2006, the Corporate Area Coroner's Court disposed of 60 cases, with 132 being traversed to this year. However, from January to March 12, 2007, only four cases were disposed of because of the problem of getting jurors to attend.

Except for the Corporate Area of Kingston and St. Andrew, RMs sit as Coroners for their parish and Coroner's Court is usually held once a month and the RM also hears traffic cases once per week.

When a ruling is made by the DPP, particularly in the case of police shootings, of which there are sometimes at least 100 a year, there should be an inquest within one year. However, some of these inquests take years to get started.

Coroner's Courts are important because each death must be registered but registration cannot take place until an inquest is held. Even when some deaths occur in sudden, unexplained or controversial circumstances, the inquests could take several years to begin. There are some inquests which can be held by a Coroner sitting alone, but others, such as controversial police shootings, must be decided by a jury. Because some deaths have to await the outcome of an inquest to be registered, the delay often results in beneficiaries to estates having to wait long periods to collect their benefits, causing undue financial hardships to them.

Insufficient jurors

Many inquests used to be delayed because of the problems of sufficient jurors not turning up for court. Because of this, an unofficial cadre of 'professional' jurors started showing up, serving regularly on most inquest panels at the Corporate Area Coroner's Court. The law was amended to prevent that practice, based on a Supreme Court ruling last year. But it doesn't seem to be working, in terms of attracting bona fide jurors.