- NORMAN GRINDLEY/DEPUTY CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER
Justice Courtney Daye inspects a guard of honour mounted by members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force during the opening of the Home Circuit Court on King Street, downtown Kingston, on Wednesday.Barbara Gayle, Staff Reporter
THE HUGE backlog of cases plaguing the justice system has prompted High Court Judge Courtney Daye to issue a stern warning that jurors will only be excused from jury duty if they were seriously ill.
The judge issued the warning Wednesday after he declared open the Easter session of the Home Circuit Court, which was marked with a colourful ceremony in front of the courthouse on King Street, downtown Kingston.
He said further that jurors would not be granted exemption from jury duty because of fear.
He said they would only be exempted if they were seriously ill or if related family members who they had to care for were seriously ill. "The condition must be life-threatening," he warned, adding high blood pressure and diabetes did not fall into that category.
INTERRUPTED EVERYDAY PLAN
The judge, who was outlining the functions of the jurors, said when they disobeyed the summonses to attend court, it interrupted the everyday plan of the system. He called on the jurors to put aside the various excuses and focus on the work at hand.
In referring to numerous complaints about the physical condition of the court building, the judge said he was making no excuses for the physical deficiencies in so far as the policymakers were concerned.
He said the call to duty sometimes "requires us to work in adverse conditions" and many Jamaicans have been known to perform excellently internationally under such conditions. He told the jurors that physical conditions should not detract from the quality of justice they were required to do.
The judge said that, notwithstanding the daunting court list, he was optimistic that many of those cases would be disposed of.
There are 149 cases listed for trial during this term, of which 69 are murder cases and 49 are sexual offence cases. The previous term had 160 cases and 116 of them were traversed to this term.
Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions, Lorraine Smith, and defence lawyer Linton Gordon pledged support on behalf of the public and private bar, to make a significant dent in the huge backlog of cases.
