Found at: http://www.anguillaguide.com/article/articleprint/2822/-1/133/
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HEARTICALLY YOURS: Justice Shall Be Done by Ijahnya Christian
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“In general you – judges – should understand that you have been entrusted with the great responsibility of protecting the rights of the people and must therefore endeavour to serve with a spirit of selflessness and integrity so as to free yourselves from guity consciences. We urge you to serve with integrity today so as to set a good precedent for posterity. Endeavour to serve with integrity…” HIM Haile Selassie, August 24, 1961.
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Ijahnya Christian
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The Spirit of His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie I may well have infused the address given by the Honourable Justice Brian Alleyne, S.C., Chief Justice (Ag.) of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court for the opening of the Law Year that I was privileged to witness by simulcast on Tuesday morning. That can only be a good thing for usually the matter which brings Rastafarians most often before the Courts of Law is one in which two worlds collide and the law of man prevails over a Higher Law, so that justice is not even expected. Even so, the ceremony was a very interesting exercise and I am glad that I was there to witness the Court demonstrating its accountability to people like me who have often felt that justice is somewhere up there, high out of reach. Ceremonial forms of dress, address and behaviours apart, what I particularly liked about the ceremony, was that I understood every single word uttered by every single one of the speakers. In that regard, I wished that the opening of the Law Year could go on and on and on.
Integrity, impartiality, accountability, responsibility, competence, regulation and discipline were the watchwords of the Chief Justice’s address and in fact of the entire ceremony. I even heard the word conscience. The Chief Justice reported on the status of the sub-regional reform process highlighting proposals for, and developments of, the Criminal, Commercial, Family and Civil Divisions of the Court. The situation and status of the Magistrate’s Court was also addressed with one challenge to the proposal for its regionalisation being differences in the Constitutions of the various States and Territories within the jurisdiction. The painstaking efforts on the part of the practitioners present, to ensure that the reputation of their profession could continue to earn public confidence, were also a welcome disclosure made by President of the Anguilla Bar Association, Alex Richardson. I am not sure that he coined the phrase, the “Hurricane Katrina syndrome”, used in reference to an inordinately slow response, but I shall borrow it and I hope that it will never refer to the pace at which justice is done in Anguilla.
Both the Anguilla Bar Association and the OECS Bar Association echoed the words of praise lauded by the Chief Justice upon several of their colleagues recognized for outstanding achievements and excellence. Among them was Sir Dennis Byron whose vision of modernizing the system in the OECS jurisdiction earned him the distinction of being referred to as the reforming judge of the Eastern Caribbean. Justice Adrian Saunders was also in for high commendation and was repeatedly congratulated for his recent appointment to the bench of the Caribbean Court of Justice. It was Anguilla’s Attorney General, Ronald Scipio, who traced Justice Saunders’ ascent from the High Court, to the Court of Appeal, to his appointment as Acting Chief Justice and now to a pioneering role in the CCJ. Anguillians like to think of Justice Saunders as ours because he was our first resident Judge and because all and sundry recognized the quality of his judgements. Another judge whose contributions evoked high praise was Justice Ian Donaldson Mitchell, Q.C., CBE. Over the years, Justice Mitchell has done much to demystify the law for many Anguillians while simultaneously giving his services gratis to a number of organisations. I therefore take this opportunity to congratulate him on the well-deserved award of Life Membership to the OECS Bar. What I truly like about this man is the ease with which he relates to people, losing nothing in his authority as a legal luminary and judge when he slips into the role of storyteller. To the unsuspecting he is just a regular fellow, a really likeable guy and to me, that is what makes him extraordinary.
In such an august setting, jumping and clicking one’s heels would have been inappropriate but that is exactly what I felt like doing at the AG’s announcement of the Legal Aid Bill and the expected completion of the first draft in 2005. Several years ago, the National Trust gave a push in this direction when it attempted to posit sustainable development as a right and to show the futility of conservation if people’s participation in democratic decision-making was constrained. One of the needs expressed during that project was for the provision of Legal Aid. Ms. Palmavon Webster also contributed voluntarily to that thrust for the establishment of a Legal Aid system. I am not sure whether the drafting process, using the Bermuda model, will consider her contributions along with the OECS model offered by President of the OECS Bar Association, Mr. Courtney Abel. While that news was received with joy, there was also sorrow as almost every speaker remembered the legacy of political and legal icon, the late Dame Mary Eugenia Charles. In spite of the fact that I could not support many of her policies, the role she played in Caribbean history cannot be denied and I too hope that she is resting in peace. There was also frightening news of the recent attempted murder of young, BVI Crown Counsel Penn in the Attorney General’s Office. This led into the AG’s report that penalties for gun crimes in Anguilla would be severely increased. However, in her response to concerns raised by Mrs. Josephine Gumbs-Connor regarding the culture of silence in Anguilla, the Honourable Madam Justice Janice George-Creque reminded the gathering that no matter what legislation was put in place, the community must have the will, and must exercise the vigilance required, to reduce crime in general. Her Ladyship also sent a strong message that the Judiciary would not be intimidated by threats to the liberty and freedom of those charged with dispensing justice. What was made very clear in the morning’s proceedings was that we all have a role to play in ensuring that Justice shall prevail.