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Failure of the legal system must lie firmly in the hands of the Legal Practitioners
Dear Editor,
I write with reference to your article headed ‘Delay in Appointing Judges Creates Backlog – Lawyers’.
According to statistics as attributed to Supreme Court sources, there was a massive backlog of 21,366 civil cases filed and awaiting hearings as at 2007.
In 2008, a further total of 6,037 of civil cases were stated as filed, with 4,448 cases concluded and leaving 1,589 cases unresolved.
When adding these 1,589 unresolved cases to the 2007 figure, the total backlog as at 2008 becomes 22,955.
The year 2008 proved without a doubt to be a very productive year, when 75% (approx.) of the civil cases were effectively resolved. This glaring fact, however, runs counter to, if not invalidates, the claim that the current backlog is due to the delay in the appointments of many more Judges.
Furthermore, poor pay is claimed as a deterrent to those wishing to become Judges. In a rich, developed country at this time, Justice is being delivered predominantly by volunteers and payment is secondary to commitment and delivery of fair and equitable justice.
The cases resolved in 2008 were the result of the performances of the existing complement of Judges. If such performances were similarly consistent throughout all the previous years, then inflating the number of existing Judges by a further 50%, would certainly beg a question.
Blame, however, was being leveled at the Guyanese public. It is claimed that Guyanese are ‘very litigious,’ and presumably these persons would have instructed their attorneys to file the ‘most ridiculous’ of cases in Court, adding to the massive backlog.
However, no mention has been made about the wisdom of attorneys’ willingness to accept such instructions and payments, before filing the ‘most ridiculous’ Court cases, despite the backlog crisis their clients will have to face.
It is highly doubtful if most Guyanese would willingly part with their hard earned cash, after having been properly advised by their attorneys, and before any such matters are filed.
It is far easier to lay blame on those who are clueless about the legal system or those who are reliant upon their attorneys for legal help.
The failure of the legal system must lie firmly in the hands of the Legal Practitioners, whose clientele should not be regarded as scapegoats.
Mac Mahase
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