Chief Justice renews call for judiciary to fully control its capital budget

 

Chief Justice Bryan Sykes has again called for the judiciary to be given full control over its capital budget and to remove that responsibility from the Ministry of Justice. 

 

The issue has sparked controvery between Justice Minister Delroy Chuck and the Chief Justice. 

 

But, speaking Monday at the swearing-in ceremony of judges to the Appeal Court and Supreme Court at King's House, Justice Sykes repeated his call for the judiciary to have it's own budget in order to implement measures to imprve the infrastructure and conditions of the island's courts. 

    

"The executive has not been able to respond in the time necessary for us. Because if you notice in all the discussions that have been going on about rebuilding, bigger and better and more resilient and so on, not one word has been said about the courthouse in Black River, the courthouse in St. Elizabeth and the other courts, as if to say it is not a matter of great importance. So it is said that we are the co-equal arm of government and I know it's an expression that is commonly used, but it needs to be reflected in reality," he urged.

 

Justice Sykes argued that the courthouses around the island are in a deplorable state, with judges and the staff forced to work in sub-standard conditions. 

 

"The point is this, that other than the Court of Appeal in its current state, refurbished and so on, I can't think of any other court in Jamaica where the minister and the permanent secretary would readily occupy. I don't know if you can think of it, I can't think of any. And I have no difficulty with them being in the surroundings that they are in, and that's fine. But the biblical principle, do to others as you would like done onto you; spare a thought for the judges who have to work and serve in less than ideal circumstances. So the time has now come for us to be given the greater control over the capital budget and this is really in keeping with what I was told some time ago: the acronym is 'MTRBB' and that is what is called medium-term results-based budgeting," he pointed out.

 

The Chief Justice said a number of courthouses were either destroyed or badly damaged during Hurricane Melissa and are beyond repair.

 

"In St. Elizabeth, as you know, one courtroom was completely demolished. There's no question of renovation there, it has to be a completely new build, and the judges there are making do now with the courthouses in Santa Cruz and Balaclava. So too in Westmoreland where, while the court has not been totally demolished by the hurricane, but certainly the damage done to the roof makes it unusable and unsuitable, and so it will be for a considerable period of time. And that has resulted in the circuit cases for Westmoreland now being transferred to the adjoining parish of Hanover," Jutice Sykes outlined.