DELAY OF CASES

Aug 30, 2017 Editorial, Features / Columnists

Guyana has had several prison uprisings over the years, but none as catastrophic as the last two riots at the Camp Street prison riot in 2016 and 2017. In the 2016 disturbance, seventeen inmates died, most of whom were on remand. It was the worst prison riot in Guyana, and possibly all of the Caribbean. The second resulted in the death of a warder, the burning down of the entire wooden structures of the Camp Street prison and the escape of hardcore criminals, three of whom who have not been seen since.
After more than 50 years of independence, the nation is still struggling to establish a democracy based on the ideas of justice, liberty and equality, which successive leaders have solemnly sworn to uphold and respect. But they have not lived up to these ideals which have been highlighted in the Constitution.
People go to the judiciary in search of justice, which according to legal scholars is a consumer product and must therefore meet the test of confidence, reliability and dependability, like any other product, if it is to survive public scrutiny. It exists for the citizenry at whose service only the system of justice must work. But does it?
It is indeed a fact that judicial responsibility, accountability and independence are in every sense inseparable. These concepts are embodied in the Constitution and in the institution of the judiciary. However, today, credibility of the judiciary is at stake due to mounting arrears of cases caused by delays in trials and the high cost of obtaining justice.
The lengthy delay of cases is well known and has become the biggest mockery of the justice system in the country. In fact, the delay of cases is contrary to the fundamental principles of the justice delivery system and could ruin the very fabric it was built on. Yet, no one seems to have a solution.
Today, we have reached the age of civilization, so to speak, and our judicial systems are the inevitable result of that civilization. But the handcuffing of a 94 year-old man and his being placed on $50,000 bail, accused of forgery, shows that the poor and the illiterate in society have fallen victims to the process of justice.
Many, especially youths who are charged with misdemeanour offences are remanded for years in prison among hardcore criminals. As a result,they leave the prison worse than when they entered. Some even die before receiving justice.The hopelessly inadequate number of judges in the country is undoubtedly one of the major reasons for the delay of cases. Governments have failed to increase the numerical strength of judges and have been callous in filling vacancies.
Many believe that incompetency and inefficiency in the judiciary have deprived people of justice. Others feel that the government and the jurists are indifferent to the many victims in the judicial system.But the more the justice system fails them, the more they are likely to lose faith in it. There is a deep darkness of frustration, hopelessness, nihilism and cynicism in the country about the judiciary. As a result, many are gradually and unwisely taking the law in their own hands, which could lead to social anarchy and thus place the whole society in jeopardy, as was the case with the extra-judicial murders a little over a decade ago.
The people’s faith in the justice system is rapidly fading because of the incessant adjournments and delay of cases. In a country like ours where people consider judges to be of the highest esteem, efforts should be made to prevent the lengthy delay of cases so as to strengthen their belief in the justice system. The time has come for the judiciary to assert itself to preserve its stature, respect and regard the rule of law in order to maintain its glorious and glittering image. In the words of William E. Gladstone, Britain’s longest and perhaps one of its greatest Prime Ministers, “justice delayed is justice denied.”
We must protect the rule of law—a basic feature of our Constitution.

1 thoughts on “DELAY OF CASES”

Dr Nat Khublall September 1, 2017 at 7:23 am

It is true that justice delayed is justice denied. What is required is an entire examination and analysis of the justice system at all levels in the manner in which the personnel involved are responsible for unnecessary delays in ensuring cases, both criminal and civil, are brought to trial in a timely manner. Also, as pointed out in the editorial there is a need to ensure that enough judges are appointed. In addition to looking into the adequacy of judges and magistrates, those prosecuting in criminal cases should be looked into. I believe the police still prosecute in the magistrates’ courts. In this day and age when there are so many lawyers in Guyana who are locally trained police are still prosecuting. Is this a good practice and to what extent it contributes to protracted delays? So many times I read in the papers that files are missing that lead to adjournment of cases. This is hardly the position in England and Hong Kong where I practised as a barrister at law for some 15 years.
The delay of justice in Guyana in recent decades is far more than in the past when all lawyers were English trained. I travelled in a taxi from Rosignal to Georgetown when I had a chat with a locally trained lawyer who emphatically tried to impress on me that it was good that all lawyers are now locally trained because lawyers qualified in England were not suitable as their studies are more relevant to England rather than Guyana. I took objection to his remark. I studied law in England but my first case in court was in the High Court of Hong Kong just after completing my pupillage. I then went to Singapore to take up a senior academic position and within eight months I wrote a book on Singapore and Malaysian law, published by Butterworth. Within 12 years I wrote 9 textbooks and 33 academic papers (some were refereed). I would like to add that Prof David Hayton of the UK was made a justice of the Caribbean Court of Appeal without any experience in Guyana and the Caribbean. The point I would like to make is that people studied law in England can adjust very quickly to any local situation having regard to the scope and breath of their legal knowledge.
If Guyana had not prevented English trained lawyers since 1981 from being called to the local Bar would it have been better for Guyana? Perhaps, they could have been instrumental in pinpointing many years ago the reasons for protracted delays in the judicial system, and much delays could have been avoided. During the colonial days, there was not much delays as now. The same was the position during the first decade after independence. When I went to Singapore in 1983, I was able to assess their property tax system of administration and in no time I wrote a textbook entitled “Singapore Property Tax”. In this book I set out all the pitfalls in the tax administration in addition to the principles of law and examples of property tax valuations (based on my Guyana experience as the Deputy Chief Valuation Officer in the early 1970s). I also wrote a refereed paper on the tax system that resulted in the Singapore government passing a revised property tax statute reflecting all my suggestions. Outsiders, looking afresh at a problem or system can indeed provide suggestions how a system that is endemic with serious problems can be solved or at least ameliorated.