G/Town Supreme Court suffers from high level of staff turnover- Registrar tells Public Service COI

Oct 01, 2015 News

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By Rehanna Ramsay
Registrar (Ag) for the Georgetown Supreme Court, Rashid Mohamed, has said that over the years the Georgetown Supreme Court has suffered as a result of a high staff turnover.
Mohamed was on Monday, summoned to testify at the Commission of Inquiry, (COI) established to inquire into the affairs of the Guyana Public Service.
The COI slated to take place within the next few months is expected to yield information which will be used to improve the efficiency of the public service, and to review the methodology used in the classification and recruitment of public servants.
The inquiry is also expected to conduct a detailed examination of how the salaries and wages of public servants are determined and allocated; review the age of public servant retirement and make recommendations in this regard.
The public hearings are currently being held at the Ministry of the Presidency Department of Public Service Building, Waterloo Street, Georgetown.
Professor Harold Lutchman and Commissioners Samuel Goolsaran and Sandra Jones, are facilitating the inquiry.
During the afternoon session of the COI on Monday, Mohamed disclosed to Commissioners that, “The Supreme Court Registry keeps losing its staff to Attorneys -at-Law, banking institutions and whatever institution has a legal department.”
Mr. Mohamed has been acting as Head of the Georgetown Supreme Court Registry for the past three years.
He explained to the Commission that the high staff turnover rate is affecting the efficiency of the court “because it means we have to start training fresh staff all over again.”
Asked by Professor Lutchman the reason for losing staff to these other organisations, Mohamed simply stated, “Salary sir.”
He added, “They (the organisations) can offer better salaries than we can give the staff.”
The Supreme Court Registrar spoke of one incidence, where a staff member was recently promoted to Clerk Two and given the opportunity to manage the affairs at the Land Court Registry.
But within a short space of time, Mohamed said that the employee was offered another position at the Guyana Revenue Authority, (GRA) for double the salary and he took it.
The witness further outlined that it’s not just double the salary but on a regular basis, the staff would leave for offers of a few dollars more.
As such, Mohamed held that it would be a step in the right direction to improve the remuneration package of the Georgetown Supreme Court employees. “I think this should be looked at as soon as possible.” he said.
He noted, however, that there are some instances, in which he would write recommendations for persons, who wish to leave the job to elevate themselves.
In response to questions about the working conditions and treatment of employees attached to the Court, Mohamed told the Commissioners that the staff is well trained.
“I don’t think they are being treated unfairly. There would be one or two complaints about attitude but that is not a regular something. ”
The witness said that the staff turnover would often have a direct impact on the filing and documentation process at the court.
Mohamed said, “There would be some delay in processing files or court documents; there are times I would have to get involved.”
Asked specifically about instances where legal documents disappear from the court system, the witness held out that it is not a major problem.
He explained that there are thousands of files in the Registry that can be misplaced but they are not lost forever.
In the past three years, Mr. Mohamed said that the database has been digitized to assist with the issue of misplacement of files and other documents.
“We have computers which serve us well,” he exclaimed.
Asked about the long delays and frustration expressed by many over the lengthy judicial process, Mohammed said that this problem stems solely from the management of matters inside the courts.
He explained that the backlog of cases is directly linked to the various reasons, including lawyers requesting adjournments, the number of cases filed and the time the judges would take to complete particular cases.
Asked whether he believes the court has enough resources to carry out its mandate, the Registrar said that staff members are often required to work overtime.
“We have to double up sometimes, but we try.”
The witness however did not say whether there is a specific section of the court that is understaffed.
Questioned further, Mohamed only reiterated that judges need to expedite cases before them to avoid long delays in processing matters and the mismanagement of judicial time.
“We need more Judges and fewer adjournments,” he opined.
He told the Commission that training for Magistrates and Judges will certainly have a positive impact on the situation.
“Refresher courses can always assist, the Supreme Court Registrar added. He said that this is definitely something he could raise with his superiors.
Mohamed said, too, that court employees generally express the need for time to further their study; another issue that could be given some consideration.

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