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Opening Of New Law Year in The OECS
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Opening Of New Law Year in The OECS
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Contact:
John
Emmanuel
Tuesday,
September 18, 2001
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Chief Justice of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court Sir Denis Byron has opened
a new law year in St. Lucia and other OECS jurisdictions of the Court on Monday,
September 17, 2001 with a simulcast message broadcast from Dominica. In
the ceremonial opening that included a Church service, followed by the usual
pomp and ceremony, Sir Denis spoke of new strategies aimed at making the
regional judiciary stronger, more efficient and effective, coupled with greater
transparency. Reviewing
the achievements of the past year Sir Denis says most significant was the
implementation of the Eastern Caribbean Civil Procedure Rules, which forms part
of the wider Justice Reform Project taking place throughout the region. Critical
to that reform process is the issue of criminal review. In
the words of Sir Denis, “it must be of grave concern to the judiciary when an
inordinate amount of time elapses between the arrest of an accuse, the laying of
an indictment and the final disposition of the case. We must take note and act
when remand prisoners sit and wait too long for a trial. Our Constitutions
require and our criminal jurisprudence deems that persons accused of crimes must
be clocked in the presumption of innocence. They are entitled to a speedy, fair
and public trial, we cannot tolerate delays that may been deems unreasonable and
that could very well have constitutional implications.”
Other aspects of the Civil Justice Reform Process includes a Jury Management component, the Selection of Judges, the establishment of a Code of Ethics to govern judicial conduct and a Public Awareness component aimed at sensitising members of the public on the operations of the court. |
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