Spotlight on justice - Shortage of judges delays justice
May 11, 2008
THE SHORTAGE of judges is one of the causes of the huge backlog of cases in the courts, which is a major area of concern in the recommendations of the Justice Reform Task Force Report.
The shortage of judges affects the Resident Magistrate's courts, Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal. There are 25 Supreme Court judges and one master in chambers.
More complex cases
Chief Justice Zaila McCalla says the number of judges is limited so when a judge is ill, it affects the system adversely. She adds that it must be borne in mind that litigation has increased significantly and cases are now more complex.
Requests have been made over the last several years for an increase in the number of judges, but the increase granted has been insufficient and there has been no increase in the number of masters in chambers.
McCalla emphasises that although there are legal vacations every year, Supreme Court judges are never on legal vacation. There is a legal vacation during the end of each term. The year has three Circuit-Court sessions and nine weeks during the year are given as legal vacation - five days during Easter, six weeks during summer, and approximately two weeks at Christmas.
During the legal vacation, judges have to take turns sitting in the Gun courts, which have a huge backlog of cases. It is the practice that during the legal vacation, there is an increase in the number of Gun-Court sittings to reduce the backlog of cases.
"Legal vacations are used by judges to write judgments, complete part-heard cases, hear urgent matters, deal with applications for injunctions and preside in all the Gun courts in the Corporate Area and in the rural parishes," McCalla tells The Sunday Gleaner.
'Brain challenging'
She describes sitting on the bench as "brain challenging", adding that although judges need a breather during the legal vacations, they have to work.
"We do not have sufficient judges to extend Circuit courts indefinitely, and we do not have the provisions in Resident Magistrate's Court buildings where rural Circuit courts are held, to accommodate continuous sittings of the Circuit courts," states McCalla.
When Circuit Court is in session in the parishes outside of the Corporate Area, the work of the resident magistrate is disrupted because of lack of space at courthouses. The resident magistrate has to give up his or her chambers and courtroom for Circuit-Court cases....
Author: Barbara Gayle
Source: Jamaica Gleaner
