With four and a half more months to serve in his position, Chief Justice Sir Patterson Cheltenham is confident that the backlog in the court system will soon be significantly reduced thanks to new legislative changes on the horizon.
However, he said a lack of resources in the system remains a major setback.
Speaking to the media following the appointment of High Court judge Barbara Cooke-Alleyne on Tuesday, Sir Patterson said he anticipated that the wheels of justice would move faster soon.
“The criminal [court system’s backlog] is certainly on the move and we’ll probably even move faster with some new legislative changes which we anticipate seeing within the next two to three months which, in my view, will facilitate a lot of what is cumbersome and ponderous in the system.
“[As it relates to] the civil [court system], ultimately, this is a question of each judge’s management because docket management is the art of business. It’s really your household to manage and you have varied responses to that. But I’m fairly well persuaded that it’s on the right track,” the chief justice said.
However, he acknowledged the shortfall in resources.
Sir Patterson said they needed more hands on deck to be more efficient.
“We could always do it with some more staff, particularly judicial assistants,” he told reporters.
“Right now, three of the best judges are sharing one [judicial assistant] and I frowned upon it and asked that each one be given an individual judicial assistant because they are highly productive judges and they can’t share one assistant. That’s part of the problem – that the resources are extremely thin and we have to assist the judges wherever we can, rather than just be launching broadsides at them. But we are working on that to have that particular problem addressed,” he said.
The chief justice added that some vacancies would be announced shortly, including his post. There will also be a position open for another High Court judge.
Last November, while officially opening the 2023-2024 legal year, he had identified problems which continue to plague the island’s legal system, including the absence of legislation to allow for the implementation of judge-alone trials.
“This is badly needed as we continue to struggle to find jurors for seven criminal courts given that we are now doing continuous criminal assizes,” he said at the time.
Sir Patterson, who will be retiring on May 15 after practising law for 46 years, said that while he had a short stint as chief justice, only spending three and a half years, he was pleased with the work he had done to speed up the justice system in Barbados.
Asked what he planned to do after leaving office, he said he may offer legal advice in areas such as arbitration and/or write a book.
To the person who will take up his role in the coming months, he advised them to make their health a priority even as they try to maintain the justice system in Barbados.
sheriabrathwaite@barbadostoday.bb
