The problem of stalled cases because a magistrate has left the position will soon be a thing of the past as related legislation makes its way through Parliament.
Minister of Legal Affairs and Criminal Justice Michael Lashley said the pending amendments to the Magistrates’ Court Act were the genesis of judicial reform.
“The issue of delays, in terms of a magistrate who is being promoted and leaving cases behind, caused some delay. So we have amended the Magistrates’ Court Act to give another magistrate the power to continue those cases so that there would be no further delay. What happened before, another magistrate had to start over the cases, and that caused further delay. So we have been treating to strengthen the judicial system by seeking to improve all systems in the Magistrates’ Court,” he said.
The amendments were recently passed in the House of Assembly and is set to be debated in the Senate.
Lashley, addressing a National Crime Symposium hosted by the Criminal Justice Research and Planning Unit at Savannah Hotel Beach Club Hotel, Hastings, Christ Church, said the Magistrates’ Court was the starting point and there would always be issues with delays unless the processes were done right.
The alarm over magistrates leaving unfinished cases was raised recently by Senior Counsel Andrew Pilgrim as well as attorney Amoy Gilding-Bourne. At the time, Pilgrim, who was referring specifically to the elevation of former Chief Magistrate Douglas Frederick to a judge of the newly established gun court, said he was considering legal action.
“So for example, I have a case in which I’m working for the victim of a crime, and this case has spent seven years before Mr Frederick and in that seven-year period, that case has reached a stage where the accused has been found guilty. Now, Mr Frederick is promoted; he is no longer a magistrate, and he cannot now sentence that person who has been found guilty. This case will have to go back to the beginning, and my client will face a waiting period presumably of another seven years to get justice in this matter. That cannot be fair,” he said then.
Gilding-Bourne, a member of the Democratic Labour Party, was also referring to the Chief Magistrates’ office, also saying cases were being stalled after a number of appearances by accused persons.
“The administration of justice cannot be dependent upon whether a particular judicial officer happens to be available on a given day. Adequate contingency arrangements must be in place so that matters can continue to be heard when a magistrate is absent,” she said then.
Yesterday Lashley once again spoke about the use of technology to allow for virtual hearings as well as changing the jurisdiction of magistrates where previously only the Chief Magistrate had island wide jurisdiction to accept pleas and also late evening hearings.
“If someone appears before a magistrate, say about 3:30 in the evening, and that accused person wants to plead guilty, he cannot do it in front of that magistrate, unless it is the Chief Magistrate, so the matter will have to be adjourned to probably another seven days or 14 days.”
In addition, the minister spoke about looking at having trained prosecutors join the magistrates’ courts to work with police prosecutors; having important documents scanned and making them available to both the defence and prosecution, prior to the beginning of cases, to speed up trials; and from January next year, engaging the services of veteran attorneys to assist with the Criminal Gangs (Prevention and Control) Act. ( CA)
The post Reform on way to prevent stalled cases appeared first on nationnews.com.
