Parish courts ‘backlog-free’
Published:Thursday | June 5, 2025 | 12:07 AM
Justice Minister Delroy Chuck has declared that the backlog in parish courts has now been cleared.
In his presentation to the Sectoral Debate in Gordon House on Tuesday, Chuck said the backlog has been reduced to less than two per cent, which, by international standards, is considered “backlog-free”.
“This is a historic achievement. As we continue to advance justice, we can now say that more than 70 per cent of the parish court cases are now completed within 12 months.”
On the matter of judgment debts, Chuck said the Government has disbursed “almost $7 billion, which is a far cry from the dismal situation we inherited in 2016”.
He said legal aid lawyers are no longer forced to wait months for their payments, adding that the ministry now asks attorneys to submit their claims on time to facilitate payments due to them within the fiscal year.
For fiscal year 2024-25, the Government disbursed about $470.1 million to legal aid attorneys.
Turning to the justice ministry’s mediation programme, Chuck said over the last three years, claims for mediation sessions amounted to a little under $50 million, with some $33 million spent during the last financial year.
Drawing on statistics, Chuck said the average rate of successful mediation resolution is more than 75 per cent, with the programme maintaining this average over the last 12 months.
Chuck said the mediation programme has a direct impact on improving case-clearance rates in the courts.
“For instance, over the last 12 months, more than 1,570 matters did not have to be adjudicated by a parish court judge since parties chose to resolve their conflicts using mediation as a dispute-resolution mechanism,” he said.