AN AUDIT of prisoners on remand awaiting trial should be conducted without delay. We say this to avert the likelihood of the judicial system lapsing into disrepute because the fundamental principle of swift justice is being violated.
Consider this catalogue of aberrations in the system:
Ivan Nettleford who spent 29 years in prison because somehow his name was wrongly recorded as Ivan Barrows until a frantic search by frantic relatives led to his release.
Edward Gayle was released from prison at age 80 after more than 20 years having been deemed "unfit to plead" because of mental health problems. He died in March in a Clarendon alms house.
Leacroft and Beverley Livingston have been facing a murder charge going on six years; they are luckier than most having been granted bail. The delays are attributed to absence of witnesses, so eventually they may get a "paper trial" which under the Evidence Act involves statements given the police by witnesses who have died or cannot be found.
Last week Michael Stewart was freed by the Appeal Court after he had spent five years in custody, having appealed his conviction for sacrilege. The hearing was delayed awaiting the notes of evidence from the Supreme Court. The court reporter who took the notes had left the island, so notes taken from the Judge's notebook became available only two weeks ago.
It is passing scandalous that these types of delays are responsible for the huge backlog of cases in the High Court; so much so that at least 150 cases are being traversed term after term. As we reported last week the Easter session of the Home Circuit Court which began on April 9 had 232 cases listed for trial, 188 of which were traversed from the previous term.
With the Easter session ending on July 31 a total 153 cases have been traversed to the Michaelmas Session starting September 16.
In all this there is no precise accounting available as to how many prisoners remain in custody awaiting trial. The estimates from some observers indicate that the number must be in the hundreds across the island.
It is therefore understandable that the Ministry of Justice's Mission Statement tacked on the walls of the reception area of the Court of Appeal on Monday evoked amusement from several lawyers. The message called for "timely delivery" of a high standard of justice. There seemed no prospect that swift justice will become part of this system of protracted delays.
THE OPINIONS ON THIS PAGE, EXCEPT FOR THE ABOVE, DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF THE GLEANER.
