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Contact:
Claudia Monlouis
Wednesday, April 07, 2004 - At a time when considerable investments are
being made to reform the OECS Court System, representatives of the OECS
Judiciary on Friday, April 2nd, convened a workshop aimed at arriving at a
regional consensus on the approach to be used for the reviewing and readjusting
of court filing fees. The workshop also sought to make recommendations on new
fee levels in cases where the grouping agreed that upward adjustments could be
made to the fees’ structure of the courts.
Facilitator of the conference, Financial Advisor Mr. Alick Lazare of Dominica
said the matters tabled at the session were framed by the basic principle that
justice should be accessible to all citizens, including the socially deprived.
“In keeping with the fundamental right of access to justice, the services of the
court should be made affordable. So, in looking at any upward revision of fees,
we have to bear in mind that people have a right to justice, and that it ought
not to be put out of their reach,” states Lazare.
Mr. Lazare pointed out that uniformity in the application of court fees across
the OECS, should not present any major difficulties, although considerations,
such as the cultural and economic conditions of respective member states must be
taken into accountant.
“Some countries appear to be more prosperous than other countries and that is an
important consideration”, said Mr. Lazare, arguing that the culture in some
countries might be different and that there might be need for differentiation.
“For instance”, he said, “for certain types of civil cases, some countries are
more prone to have litigation concerning land than others, and you may want to
differentiate the treatment of land litigation in some countries where the
demand for court services may be higher there.”
Following a 1990 review of court fees, Mr. Lazare undertook a more recent one
and prepared a document of court fees in the sub-region. And according to him,
legislative changes may be required in each of the six independent OECS states
before any changes to court fees can come into effect.
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