The government will appoint a Judicial Review Commission for the second time in three years to review and make recommendations for salary increases and better terms and conditions for Court of Appeal and Supreme Court Justices.
Attorney General Alfred Sears made the announcement Wednesday during the opening of the legal year.
Once appointed, the commission will be mandated to report within three months to enable any recommendations to be taken into consideration in the 2004/2005 budget, he said.
Former Attorney General Sean McWeeney, who chaired the first Commission, has agreed to also chair the new commission when appointed.
Minister Sears said the commission’s mandate has been extended to deal with the anomalies with respect to the salaries of resident and non-resident Court of Appeal Judges and the “vexing issue” of housing for Supreme Court Judges.
Minister Sears said the commission will comprise senior members of the bar, bankers and accountants.
He also announced that the Governor General will appoint a Legal Aid Commission to examine the inadequacies of the legal aid system.
He admitted that the system is inadequate in an environment where citizens are demanding greater accountability from public authorities, seeking to preserve their civil rights and demanding transparency.
The Commission, which will be announced shortly, according to Minister Sears, will be comprised of religious leaders, attorneys and civic leaders.
It is expected to report and make recommendations within six months in respect of a comprehensive legal aid scheme for both civil and criminal matters, he said.
Meantime, Chief Justice Sir Burton Hall is pushing for a better computer system for the Supreme Court.
Sir Burton said he previously reported on a new process to be adopted by the court to compile data, known as The Bahamas Integrated Justice Information System (BIJIS). He expressed dissatisfaction that the government has not yet implemented it.
“The project had a target date of May 2003 for completion and last year I expressed great disappointment that primarily due to the lack of the necessary administrative and technical personnel, this $2.5 million exercise had slowed to a crawl despite our repeated petitions,” he said. “No process has been made during this past year.”
Stressing that the lifeblood of the court is record keeping, Sir Burton said it is imperative that a proper computerization system be implemented.
Concerning conditions in the court system, he said, “I will continue to persuade, cajole, complain and even annoy those whose responsibility it is to provide the resources the judiciary manages in order that the office of the judiciary be able to provide the services that the 21st century of the Bahamas is entitled to expect.”
By Hadassah Hall, The Bahama Journal
