AG flags sloth in delivery of written judgments

Oct 28, 2022 News

Kaieteur News – Attorney General (AG) Anil Nandlall, SC, has flagged the sloth in the delivery of written judgments, even as he emphasized the need for Judges to write their decisions in a timely manner, to avoid delays in the dispensation of justice.

The issue came up during a virtual discussion held by the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus last week over the topic of constitutional reform and the judicial selection process.

Attorney General (AG), Anil Nandlall, SC

The Attorney General noted while many judges have a security of tenure which is necessary to help them dispense their duties in a fair and just manner, they must be held accountable for not writing decisions in a timely manner. According to the AG, Judges not being able to write their decisions in a timely manner has a serious effect on the administration of justice.

“While you have security of tenure, at the same time you have responsibilities and you can be removed for misbehaviour, as all the Constitutions provide…,” the AG told the panel

He continued that, “the misbehaviour must embrace the inability to discharge core judicial responsibilities. Which must be to write judgments in a timely manner, having regard to speedy justice and protection of the law… after all, the Judiciary is funded by public monies. As a Politician, I have to answer every day to my constituency about cases not being heard, judgments not being handed out”

The AG had previously explained that the law requires Judges to give decisions in writing within four months of the determination of a case or the end of a trial.

During an airing of his programme, ‘Issues in the News’, Nandlall stressed, “The law is not being complied with…I talk to people in the streets and they tell you how long they are waiting…I have no control over the pace at which the judiciary works and the most I can do is what I’m doing now, calling for compliance with the laws of the land.”

He said nevertheless, that since Judges are part of the system that punishes people who break the laws, it is a reasonable expectation that they comply with the laws that govern the Judiciary in full. “Those [four] months to deliver a decision is a matter of law and while it’s good passing the code of ethics, they also must comply with the law. They [Judges] must ensure there is compliance with the time limit for judicial decisions,” the AG said

The Judicial Time Limit Act of 2009 made provision for, inter alia, penalty for judges who continuously breach the law, of which the ultimate sanction is removal from office.

However, this was not enough to motivate some high-ranking members of the Judiciary to deliver their decisions on time. Some have retired and others promoted to senior positions without handing down their decisions in time.

Earlier this year, following criticism of over the delays, Chancellor of the Judiciary, Justice Yonette Cummings-Edwards, spoke to the issue, citing the shortage of judicial staff to cover the workload of the Judiciary. Justice Cummings-Edwards said that while there is a breach of the judicial time limit, it was not intentional.

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