Hilary Robertson-Hickling

The appointment of Chief Justice McCalla has come at a critical point in national life. She comes at a time when the justice system is in need of an overhaul and when pressures are being exerted nationally and internationally to improve the system. Our expectations are rising and the resources seem to be dwindling.

It is important for the Government and the Opposition to provide the necessary support for this important office as we seem to thrive on dissent. The manner in which these appointments are handled will have to be reviewed as would-be candidates are sometimes subject to scurrilous attacks and unfair treatment. The office is so important in a symbolic and practical way that we need to be very careful about the way that this is handled.

We saw the process at work in theAmerican system where judges rose and fell under the gaze of one political party or another. We see the conflict growing in Pakistan about the Chief Justice and the political parties. What our political representatives on both sides fail to realise is that if we create a poisoned atmosphere this only leads to further reduction of trust and social capital which is already at an all-time low. In the international arena we see that justice has become a casualty of the war on terror, renditions, detention without trial and other dangerous practices.

Increasing problems

At home we see increasing problems of police excesses , increased gang warfare, deportations and our ambivalence about the death penalty. The recent release of two high profile persons who had committed murder but have been rehabilitated raises other questions. We also have the involvement of Caribbean nationals in activities deemed terrorist in North America and Europe and must face the likelihood of caring for them on their return to our shores.

An unprecedented level of cooperation is necessary at the local, regional and international levels as it sometimes appears that the criminal cartels are better prepared than the systems of justice. Funding from drug cartels has subjected judicial systems and personnel to temptation and corruption especially in regions where poverty continues to be endemic and where soldiers sign up for 'war' every day. Crimes against humanity are also being perpetrated on almost every continent and the international courts are under pressure.

Changing for the better

In a recent BBC programme, a journalist revisited his hometown of Medellin in Colombia sometime after the infamous days of the Escobar brothers whose cocaine cartel brought that city and country to its knees. Apparently things have been changing for the better.

Jamaica has to become vigilant to ensure that we do not descend into that kind of hell. Globalisation has exacerbated the problems as capital and people movefrom place to place with greater ease. It would also appear that the prosperity generated by the process is unequally distri-buted. My school motto was, 'May she flourish in wisdom and virtue,' and I hope that our new Chief Justice will be given the support to do just that.