CJ apologises to jurors

CHIEF JUSTICE Sat Sharma personally apologised to 1,100 potential jurors for the inconvenience caused to them last Tuesday at the Hall of Justice. Sharma, who returned from a private trip to London on Saturday, surprised everyone when he turned up at the Hall of Justice around 8.30 a.m yesterday. He went from room to room and addressed the jurors. Sharma noted that putting systems in place for such an unusual number of jurors, required precision coordination and synergy among numerous agencies, which unfortunately, did not unfold as planned. The Chief Justice told the jurors that he was assured by senior personnel coordinating the event, that the problems which the jurors encountered one week ago, had been addressed and that the required systems were in place to ensure that the jurors did not experience such difficulties in the future.

Sharma said he was personally assured by some jurors that they were satisfied with the new arrangements put in place. Jurors arrived at the Hall of Justice around 7.30 am There was a large contingent of security personnel — the Judiciary Security Unit, MTS, and the Court and Process Branch. The staff of the judiciary were out in their numbers. The lines flowed and on arrival on the first floor, jurors were given a sandwich. With proper organisation, jurors filtered into lines and were quickly seated in various rooms. Court staff and security officials had everything under control — a contrast tothe chaos of one week ago. Even before the light snack was digested, lunch arrived by the hundreds for the jurors. A lunch box comprising chicken, rice, peas and salad, accompanied by box juice and bottled water, brought smiles to many a juror. There were happy faces this time around. The foyer on the first floor could easily have been mistaken for a food court. Food for so!