Project Brings District and High Courts Together
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Project Brings District and High Courts Together |
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EASTERN CARIBBEAN SUPREME COURT PRESS RELEASE Contact: Ianthea E. Leigertwood-Octave Thursday, 19 February 2004 - A project under which the District Courts and the High Court in St. Lucia will be brought under one administrative umbrella in their criminal jurisdiction is underway here. The Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court hopes that if successful, the project will be implemented in other Member territories served by the Court. Draft legislation relating to the establishment of the Criminal Division has been sent to the St. Lucia Government. When enacted, it will authorize the Chief Justice to make rules of criminal practice and procedure to achieve the objective of bringing together the District Courts and the Criminal Division of the High Court under one administrative umbrella. A legal consultant MS. Sharon E. Walter is currently on assignment in St. Lucia from the Department of Justice in Canada providing technical assistance in the establishment of the Division. The Court has been consulting with the St. Lucia government, the Magistracy and the St. Lucian Bar about The Division for the past two year The implementation of the project, the Court says, is a necessary condition for creating a critical mass that would ensure greater cost effectiveness and efficiency and achieve the goal of an impartial, competent, efficient and effective system of administration of criminal justice in the countries of the OECS. An Advisory Committee under the Chairmanship of acting Justice of Appeal Honourable Mr. Albert Redhead has been appointed to assist with the setting up of the new Division. In addition, a senior criminal court judge from New Jersey in the United States has been invited to share his experiences in various aspects of criminal justice. The need for the Criminal Division arises from a number of problems currently existing in the court system. These include the lengthy periods accused persons stay on remand; inefficiency of the preliminary inquiry (PI) process; the lack of management of criminal cases; delays in the trial process as a result of selecting and empanelling jurors and the need to deal speedily with cases involving visitors. A two-day Criminal Division workshop entitled “Transforming Criminal Justice Administration” got underway at the Bay Gardens Hotel today. Its objective is to prepare for a smooth and successful implementation of the Criminal Division of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court as a pilot project in St. Lucia in accordance with the policies espoused by the Government. Attention Editors: Prime Minister Dr. Kenny Anthony will address the workshop at 11.15 a.m. on Friday, February 20, 2004 and an invitation is extended to the media to be present.
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