Found at: http://www.anguillaguide.com/article/articleprint/5220/-1/140/
|
Chief Justice Says: Long Delay In Court Cases May Be Seen As Injustice, Unfair Trial
|
The Acting Chief Justice of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court says efforts are continuing to put into place initiatives aimed at reducing the long delays in the handling of cases in the various jurisdictions which include Anguilla.
Sir Brian Alleyne, SC, KCN, made the statement while delivering the customary address to simultaneous sittings of the Court in the nine Member States and Territories transmitted via video link to each courthouse on September 20.
|
|
Lawyers at the Opening of Law Year in Anguilla
|
Speaking from Grenada, the Acting Chief Justice said: “One of the areas which continue to plague our islands is the delay in processing criminal proceedings. Significant delays occur at the preliminary inquiry stage. This results in delays of up to 3 or 4 years from the arrest of a suspected person to trial.
“As of July 2007, in St. Lucia there were as many as 132 persons on remand out of which trial dates have only been set for 54. In Dominica 114 are on remand and only 7 are awaiting trial. These islands were followed by St. Vincent with 76 persons on remand, 41 of whom were awaiting Preliminary Investigations; Antigua with 51 persons on remand, 9 of whom are awaiting trial; Grenada with 45, 30 of whom are awaiting trial; BVI with 19, one of whom is awaiting trial and Anguilla with 17.
|
|
Chief Justice (Ag)
|
“When we compare the number of persons on remand to the number awaiting trial, we realise that persons are spending an inordinate amount of time on remand prior to their matters being set down for trial. This may result in injustice and a breach of the Constitutional guarantee of a fair trial within a reasonable time, with the possible consequence that the charge may be peremptorily dismissed or permanently stayed. This may itself be perceived as an injustice, more particularly to the victim of the crime, but also to the community at large and perhaps even to the accused person.
“The possible legal consequences of delay are illustrated in the Canadian case of R v Osei January 30, 2007 in the following terms:
‘On the issue of the failure of the trial to proceed in the Superior Court as scheduled due to lack of judicial resources, the decision in Askov also makes it clear that delay caused by the lack of institutional resources is delay for which the Crown must bear the responsibility since it is the Crown that is responsible for the provision of those resources.
“In addition to all of those considerations of course, is the fact that the guidelines in Moron, following on the decision in Askov, have now been with us for about 15 years. We are not faced with a situation that is unknown to the Crown or one for which the Crown is not on notice respecting the consequences if the directives of the Supreme Court of Canada are not respected. Notwithstanding that fact, here we have a fairly straightforward case where the preliminary hearing and the trial both occur outside of those guidelines. They both result from a lack of institutional resources.
“The constitution affords even to persons under sentence of death, rights that must be respected and that the true measure of the value of those rights is not jut how well they serve the law-abiding section of the community, but also how they are applied to those for whom society feels little or no sympathy.”
Sir Brian Alleyne said that “recognising the need to put in effective delay reduction initiatives, the court has worked assiduously on the Criminal Division Pilot Projects. Work on this division is behind schedule in terms of the expected levels of achievement, but is progressing.”
Meanwhile, the Acting Chief Justice commented on the mediation system, a court-connected method of alternative dispute resolution, which is being undertaken in all of the nine jurisdictions. It is also a means whereby a backlog of cases can be averted.
“Since the introduction of Mediation in 2001, I am pleased to report that it has grown tremendously, although there is still much scope for further growth..,” he said. “A total of 218 persons in the region have been trained by the Judicial Education Institute to conduct mediation. Out of that number 124 persons have been placed on the court’s roster of mediators.”
The top jurist stated that as the mediation programme continued to be a positive force towards settlement, it was important that it should be continuously nurtured in order to produce accelerated settlements.