An angry Supreme Court judge has said she will not allow anyone to dictate her trial schedule.
Justice Vera Watkins censured the newly-implemented case management policy of having Senior Supreme Court Justice Jon Isaacs set court dates for all of the criminal courts at arraignment.
Last month, Attorney General John Delaney touted the new procedure as a means of achieving efficiency in the system.
Delaney told the Senate of plans to implement a fifth court that would deal with hearings, arraignments and trial fixture dates for the other four trial courts.
Delaney boasted that the case management had been partially implemented.
Justice Watkins’ rebuke is similar to action taken in 2006 by then Justice John Lyons who harshly criticized the Swift Justice Program initiated by then Attorney General Allyson Maynard-Gibson. Justice Lyons sent back nine cases to the Criminal Registry that were set for his court, which he determined were not ready for a fair trial.
