Attorney General Alfred Sears on Wednesday pointed to a new effort to help speed up the administration of justice when he spoke during the opening of the legal year of the Court of Appeal.
Mr. Sears said one of the challenges that the courts face in an increasingly litigious society is the bottleneck created by the backlog of cases.
“I know that the courts are doing everything in their power to address the problem,” he said.
Mr. Sears pointed out that the primary charter of the courts has been and will always be to do justice in accordance with the law.
“It is open to all disputants with irreconcilable differences,” he noted. “On the other hand, it is important to acknowledge that no system can afford a sufficient number of judges or courts or enough funds to allow every citizen to mitigate in its courts every real or imagined wrong.”
Mr. Sears said any attempt to allow that will inevitably result in delayed access to justice.
Further, he added, the social and economic costs of dispute resolution would be intolerable
Mr. Sears said it appears that the ideal system should be one that assists parties to resolve their conflicts fairly, at affordable costs, and with due dispatch.
“Alternative dispute resolution mechanisms like mediation have to be integrated into the dispute resolution mechanism,” he said.
“Mediation must complement litigation. Disputants should have the alternative of attempting private, non-court based mediation, with the assistance of lawyers where necessary. And I am therefore pleased that we are moving in this direction in tandem with other jurisdictions in the region and beyond.”
The attorney general reminded that a just society demands that justice must be within the reach of every citizen whether rich or poor.
In this regard, he said his office expects to receive next month the report of the Legal Aid Commission under the chairmanship of Rev. Dr. William Thompson, which will guide the government in setting up a legal aid system in the country.
“Justice must not only be seen to be done, but it must be done in premises which are conducive to such dispensation,” Mr. Sears added. “In this regard, government is sparing no efforts.”
He informed that work commenced on a new magistrates court complex on Nassau Street last year and is expected to be completed before the end of this year.
Mr. Sears also reported that plans for a new judicial complex are advancing and an inter-ministerial committee has been established by cabinet to determine a suitable location and timetable for the complex.
“We have already seen much improvements to the premises of the Court of Appeal,” he noted.
Mr. Sears also reported that the Judicial Review Commission chaired by former Attorney General Sean McWeeney is nearing completion of review of the terms and conditions of service of judges and justices of the Court of Appeal.
Source: The Bahama Journal
