Chief Justice calls for revamp of Circuit Court system

 

Chief Justice Bryan Sykes is renewing the push for the Circuit Court system to be revamped, arguing that it has outlived its usefulness.

 

With the exception of the Home Circuit Court, these courts operate at specific times throughout the year.

 

But the Chief Justice has reiterated that Circuit Courts cannot compete with the volume and complexity of cases being heard, which has added to the backlog in the court system.

 

"There is no such thing as a simple case anymore in the Circuit Courts. All of the cases now, virtually all of them, they have complex evidentiary matters to be addressed by the trial judges, and so it is consuming a significant amount of time. And the four weeks, even with the most efficient judge, is simply not sufficient to address the issues there," he argued.

 

Chief Justice Sykes, who was speaking Monday during the ceremony to swear in six members of the judiciary to higher offices at King's House, used the opportunity to reiterate his view that better use of bench trials will improve court efficiency.

 

Justice Sykes noted that Jamaica is not alone with its case backlog issues, as England and Wales recently moved to address its 78,000 case backlog with several recommendations, one which was the curtailment of jury trials.