Minister of Justice and Attorney-General A.J. Nicholson has responded to comments made by Supreme Court Judge Almarie Sinclair-Haynes in the Westmoreland Circuit Court on Monday, that the Ministry of Justice did not make suitable arrangements for her accommodation at a particular hotel. The judge said she had to leave the hotel when she arrived there Sunday night and with the assistance of the police seek accommodation elsewhere because the hotel management demanded payment in advance.

The following is an edited version of the minister’s statement:

It is reported in The Gleaner (Tuesday, May 15), that a Supreme Court judge, Almarie Sinclair-Haynes, has chosen to make pronouncements (from the Bench, no less) concerning the arrangements made for her accommodation in the parish of Westmoreland.

Since Her Ladyship has chosen to elevate such information to that level, it is only right that the public be made fully aware of all the circumstances surrounding the issue.

The Ministry of Justice had the duty to arrange accommodation for the judge, the prosecutor and the court reporter, all of whom would help to man the court during the sitting of the Westmoreland Circuit Court.

Properly made

Arrangements had properly been made for the prosecutor and the court reporter and also for the judge’s orderly, the latter by the Ministry of National Security. All concerned were to be housed at the same hotel. There was a problem concerning the arrangements that should have been made for the judge.

Upon arrival with her orderly in the dead of night, and in keeping with the hotel’s policy, the judge was asked to leave her credit card with them for the remainder of the night and she would be fully accommodated until they regularised the matter with the Ministry of Justice early the following day.

Her Ladyship refused, stating that she had no intention of assisting the Ministry of Justice in that regard. It appears that she found accommodation elsewhere for the half-night and, indeed, the matter was regularised sometime the following morning. Her Ladyship thought it prudent to make her pronouncements and, obviously, to have the newspaper reporter on the courts in Kingston duly advised.

The Gleaner’s understanding that the hotel had been owed money by the Ministry of Justice “from 2003 which was not paid until 2006” is totally erroneous. The hotel in question will confirm that this is so. The ministry has never owed this hotel any monies whatsoever.

Servants of the people

The making of that kind of pronouncement from the Bench, as Her Ladyship is reported to have done, pays scant regard to her fellow Jamaicans who came to her court on Monday morning, carrying with them the many burdens that had brought them to that place. Her perceived problems were greater than those of all the persons who had gathered at the court.

It gives strength to the view that the capital works. The case management practices and the automation of the system of the administration of justice will mean nothing unless those who are sworn to serve the people of Jamaica understand that they are servants of the people.