Is the judicial system doomed to failure?

Jun 07, 2009 Letters

Dear Editor,
Following my recent letter I am really concerned, as all Guyanese should be about a failing judicial system.
The judiciary should be seen as the institution which upholds the law and pronounces on the morals of our society.
Can we really say that the Judicial Service Commission and the judicial system as presently composed provides the country with a system of justice that breeds confidence? The answer is a resounding no. The fact that we have over 20,000 civil back log cases is testimony to the perilous state of affairs. If we add the criminal cases it would amount to another 1000 cases and in addition it takes five to seven years for cases to be completed. There are persons awaiting trial, who have been in prison for five years and more awaiting trial in the High Court.

Further there are hundreds of preliminary inquiries which are yet to be determined. Some prisoners have been waiting longer for a hearing than the years they would have served had they been sentenced for the offence committed.
Even worse, there have been judges who have retired and walked way with hundreds of part heard cases and other cases on which they have not given any written decisions, which will now have to be heard “de novo”, this after having gone through the system and had a hearing probably lasting some five to seven years. What a travesty of justice.

This was the reason why Parliament recently passed a law to enforce time limits for decisions to be handed down. However, certain legal minds are not in agreement with what Parliament has approved and the Bill is yet to be assented by His Excellency President Jagdeo.
We are now witnessing a further deterioration of the system as the Registrar’s office has no legally qualified head, and it seems that the present holder, though unqualified in every sense of the word, is going ahead to make sweeping changes by removing qualified and experienced persons, e.g. from the Marshals section and carrying out unfortunate measures which will frustrate the work of lawyers and citizens.
It seems that the system will be doomed to failure and Guyanese will continue to face injustice. Can the Judicial Service Commission and the Chancellor (ag) honestly feel that they are discharging justice to the Guyanese public?
Umar Saied