Challenging year for the Judiciary

THE past year has been a very challenging one for the judiciary. A lot has happened over the last year which makes one wonder what will 2004 bring.

One thing for sure is that Trinidad and Tobago stands to be highly embarrassed regionally if this country does not pass legislation to make the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) our final Court of Appeal. The Government wants the CCJ as the final Court of Appeal, but the Opposition UNC has already indicated that it will not support the legislation in Parliament. The CCJ will have its headquarters in Port-of-Spain. TT needs to pass the required legislation to give effect to the CCJ.

The burning question is what will happen if TT does not pass the legislation? The other islands of the Caribbean have gone ahead and will have the CCJ as their final appellate court. TT will remain with the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council as the final court. On the issue of the Judicial Committee, decisions of the Law Lords are having a serious effect on the administration of justice in this country. So much so, Senior Counsel Avory Sinanan said last week that the Privy Council’s decisions were wrecking havoc with the judicial system. One of the major decisions in 2003 was the Balkissoon Roodal judgment which was delivered on November 20. The Law Lords ruled that the mandatory death sentence was no longer constitutional in the Caribbean.

It is now left up to the trial judge to pass sentence. The judge may still impose the death sentence, but the reality is that a prison term will suffice. In the past, the death sentence was automatic. The Roodal judgment also means that persons on Death Row can apply to have their death sentences reviewed. This will certainly tie up the judicial system. Judges will now be called upon to review sentences of more than 80 convicted killers. But the Caribbean is not leaving the Roodal judgment alone. Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados and Jamaica will go before a nine-member Privy Council Board on March 22 hoping to have the Roodal judgment overturned. Another matter which impacted on the local system in the past year was the case involving convicted killer Chuck Attin.

Attin, who was 16 when he killed two Westmoorings women, was sentenced to prison at the President’s Pleasure. Because of a Privy Council ruling, the local High Court has followed and ruled that Attin could have only been sent to prison by the “Court’s Pleasure.” Now Attin has to be taken back to court to be sentenced. Attin and Noel Seepersad were convicted of killing Candice Scott and Karen Sa Gomes at Westmoorings on July 11, 1994. They burst into the house where they raped the women before Attin slit the throats of the two housewives.

A big issue over the last year was the announcement by Prime Minister Patrick Manning of his intention to move Parliament from the Red House and place it on the block which now houses the Port-of-Spain Magistrates’ Court, the Ministry of National Security, a Port-of-Spain Headquarters for the Regiment, the National Lotteries Control Board, and other businesses. This announcement brought a swift response from Chief Justice Sat Sharma who said the judiciary had not been consulted on such a move. He pointed out that millions of dollars had been spent to erect the new wing of the Magistrates’ Court and wondered where the court would be relocated. That was months ago but the debate rages on as the Prime Minister is bent on removing Parliament to make way for his official office.

The condition of courthouses was another issue. Several Magistrates’ Courts are in a state of disrepair. The staff at the San Fernando Magistrates’ Court stayed away to protest the conditions there. The then Attorney General Glenda Morean toured the building and promised relief, but she is no longer in that post. Several other court houses are still in a terrible state — Arima, Chaguanas, Couva, Siparia, Mayaro, to name a few. The Chief Justice promised a new Arima Court in the new year. Former Government Minister Dhanraj Singh finally faced a jury on a charge of murdering Mayaro/Rio Claro Regional Corporation Chairman Hansraj Sumairsingh on December 31, 1999. The trial was held at the Hall of Justice, Port-of-Spain, and after a three-week trial, Singh was found not guilty in October and set free.

Jamaat Al Muslimeen leader Yasin Abu Bakr, who led the aborted 1990 coup, was charged in August with conspiring to kill two expelled members of his organisation — Salim Rasheed and Zaki Aubidah. The charges followed a shooting incident outside the MovieTowne Cineplex on June 4 when Jamaat member Adil Ghani was shot and wounded, but his common-law wife Jilla Bowen was killed. This was a year when the International Criminal Court (ICC) was inaugurated and one of the sons of the soil Karl Hudson-Phillips QC was appointed one of the 18 judges. The ceremony was held in the Hague, Holland and attended by former President Arthur NR Robinson, the man credited with the idea of calling for the establishment of such a court. One of the more interesting cases was the appeal filed by former Prime Minister Basdeo Panday against a libel award of $600,000 which High Court Judge Peter Jamadar had given to former CCN Chairman Ken Gordon.

The Court of Appeal by a 2-1 majority reduced the award to $300,000, but CJ Sharma who dissented said Gordon deserved just $100. Deputy Chief Magistrate Deborah Thomas-Felix protested her transfer from Port-of-Spain to San Fernando. She went on sick leave for a bad back and sometime later filed for judicial review of the decision of Chief Magistrate Sherman Mc Nicolls to transfer her. But while her cases sits in the Court of Appeal, Thomas-Felix has been appointed an Industrial Court Judge. There were two high-profile inquests taking place before the Chief Magistrate. One was the shooting to death by police of 17-year-old student Phillip Seerattan at the International School at Westmoorings in November 2002. The other involved the mysterious death of 11-year-old Akiel Chambers who disappeared from the Maraval residence of Charles James on May 23, 1998, only to surface in James’ swimming pool the following morning. On a more positive note, there were improvements in technology. One aspect was the introduction of audio-visual equipment in both the High Court and Magistrates’ Court. According to the Chief Justice, morale is high, the magistrates are appearing in court on time, they are present for late court and their reasons for decisions are being processed.