Frustrated lawyers
April 24, 2007
The long delays in getting trial dates for civil suits in the Supreme Court have left many lawyers and litigants frustrated. The only trial dates now available are in 2008 and some lawyers fear that, before the end of 2007, the only dates available will be in 2009.
Brenton Henry, a Jamaican barrister who had been living in England, brought in a damaged BMW automobile which he fixed for his own use. However, the authorities seized it in January 2006, stating that Mr. Henry had not paid the correct customs duty of $7.5 million on it. He said in court documents that the Customs Department had assessed duty of $1.1 million on the car which was classified as 'salvage', and he paid the full amount. He said that after he had repaired the car and fitted it with another engine, it was seized and detained. He sued the Attorney-General in June 2006 for loss of use and recovery of his car. He went to court last week and got a case management date for November 2009 and is now wondering when the trial will take place.
He is seeking a declaration that no further duty be paid and that his car be returned to him immediately.
Glenville Murphy, 63, a farmer and retired stevedore from the hills of St. Catherine, who is now living in Rae Town, central Kingston, just cannot understand why his false-imprisonment lawsuit against the Government - which was filed in 1998 - should be set for trial in May 2008, a 10-year wait.
"This is an injustice and a suppression of truth," Mr. Murphy told The Gleaner last week.
He is one of several litigants who have written to Chief Justice Lensley Wolfe and Howard Hamilton, Q.C. (then the Public Defender), about the inordinate delay in getting their civil cases tried.
Author: Gleaner Reporter
Source: Jamaica Gleaner
