CJ: Vision is in short supply

The following is the start of CJ Archie’s speech.

INTRODUCTION The theme for this year’s opening and annual report is “Consolidation for Enhanced Delivery”. In keeping with that thrust, I do not propose in this instalment of our ongoing conversation to deliver a speech repeating at length the vision and strategic focus of the judiciary. Nor do I intend to dwell very long on statistics although I must report on our performance over the past year. I do make the general observation, however, that performance data must be understood in the prevailing national cultural and economic context, including existing infrastructure and available resources.

In that regard let me say at the outset that we are holding our own. Instead, I propose to spend a little time on the preparations and adjustments that we continue to urge and pursue in order to effect the longterm transformation to which we are committed.

Permit me to express my gratitude to Dr.Liverpool for adding some context to the discussion because it is easy to become impatient, as I have at times, at the pace of change if one does not appreciate the structural and cultural impediments to performance that continue to bedevil us within the judiciary as well as in the wider society.

Permit me also to preface what I have to say by making some remarks about our environmental milieu.

In doing so I am conscious that, without my deliberately setting out to have that effect, some people may be offended by some things I have to say but by the most generous of reckonings I am now more than halfway through my tenure and have come to the age and quiet pass where I lose no sleep over that. In a country where the national pastime is tearing each other down, I have no difficulty reminding myself and every other leader that our job is to lead and the job of talk show hosts is, well, to talk. As for social media commentary, why waste energy? Last year I talked about common sense.

There is something else that is in equally short supply and that is vision. By definition, those who possess and deploy it will be in the minority in every society.

The chickens that scratch on the ground making noise over scraps will always outnumber the eagles that have the benefit of a different and broader perspective. With that benefit comes the burden of being misunderstood and criticized.

The higher the eagle soars, the smaller it seems to the chicken.

I can only do my job; I can’t make eagles out of chickens.

By all means those of us in leadership positions must seek consensus and try to help everyone to understand and embrace the vision. That involves explanation and consultation and sometimes persuasion but at the end of the day the driver must drive and everybody else must either help push, sit tight or get off the bus! This is not just Ivor Archie having a rant. In an environment where our culture and constitutional guarantees allow us to feel free to abuse each other without the benefit of research or reliable and accurate information, you must understand that I will remain resolute in my commitment to our vision once I sit in this chair. Vision involves the ability to appreciate the big picture; to take a systemic view and to understand concepts like case flow management and the fact that the judiciary is only one part of the administration of justice and that dysfunction in any one area affects the whole.

So if some of what I say sounds familiar it is because sometimes it is necessary to keep hammering away at the same issues until we reach a tipping point.

Forgive me, therefore, for mentioning without dwelling on the things that I have no control over but for which the judiciary always seems to be taking the blame – things like the slow turnover of forensic analysis, the absence of a Public Defender’s Office, the persistence of the system of preliminary inquiries, the underfunding of the DPP’s office, an under-resourced probation department, poor evidence gathering, shortage of physical plant, no video remand suite at the prison, push back in some quarters against the introduction of video recorded interviews, an archaic legislative regime, the fact that night courts were a failed experiment that keep being proposed by those who have no idea of how the system works, etc, etc. He that hath ears let him hear.

I don’t pass legislation and I don’t build judicial complexes. I am accountable for the things that the judiciary controls and I accept responsibility for that and I will tell you what we are doing.

That will be my focus.

Having said all that, from my perspective at least, I am beginning to see some light at the end of the tunnel.

Under the new dispensation, some positive, fresh winds of change are blowing. What are some of the indicators? There are a few but I will mention two in particular THE SRC There were those who scoffed when I first publicly articulated my vision of the management of the judiciary and of the country and likened it to a corporate model.

Now at last the SRC has embarked on the necessary task of developing job descriptions and benchmarking compensation for key executive and judicial positions. Perhaps some of the unwarranted criticism of the past can be forgiven because nobody actually knew what the job of the President or the Prime Minister or even the Chief Justice involved, including some judges, because the office of Chief Justice did not previously come with a job description.

Let me share the information for those who care to know. My job is only partly judicial but it is also largely administrative.

In addition to being the Chief Judge, the Chief Justice sits at the head of several disparate hierarchies, which intersect in their roles in the administration of justice.

These include the judiciary as a corporate entity for which he/she must provide strategic leadership and administrative direction inclusive of guiding reform; the JLSC responsible for all judicial officers and public offices inside and outside of the judiciary requiring legal qualifications; The Rules Committee of the Supreme Court which determines and drafts procedural laws binding on the courts and its users; and the lesser but important roles of President of the Board of the Judicial Education Institute, Chairman of the National Awards Committee, Member of the Council of Legal Education, Member of the Conference of CARICOM Chief Justices, Member of the Editorial Board of the West Indian Reports etc, etc. In all of these roles he/she must develop and maintain strategic relationships nationally, regionally and internationally to propel the developmental agenda of one of the three arms of the state and to ensure that we remain contemporary and in line with international best practice and modern judicial reforms. The job of making Trinidad and Tobago attractive to investors does not solely rest with a high-performing executive.

There must also be confidence in the competence and independence of the judiciary and that story has to be told and it is only partially articulated in its judgements. That carries certain responsibilities, like the Prime Minister and many senior Public Officials. So, and I don’t care if you feel I’m throwing shade here, I can’t stop people talking, but you not going to stop me from travelling.

Quite apart from that though, I raise it in order to acknowledge that, from the conversations that have begun, there now seems to be a growing understanding that one cannot have a high performing governance structure without attracting, retaining and holding accountable against defined parameters, the best available talent within the Public Sector. That requires vision! Until we decide on a clear compensation philosophy and fix the systemic, structural problems in the Public Service the we cannot have good governance or performance delivery across the board. Work on the restructuring of the Service Commissions must therefore continue. It is my hope that this will eventually find concrete expression in things like a properly staffed and compensated DPP ’s department, and a different recruitment profile in the Police Service just to cite two examples.

FINANCIAL AUTONOMY

After many years of us repeatedly making the case, in the last budget speech the Hon. Minister of Finance publicly committed to affording the judiciary a greater degree of financial autonomy consistent with internationally accepted principles of judicial independence and efficient administration. Contrary to expectations that appear to have been triggered in some person’s minds, this is not a transition that can be achieved overnight. As we have always maintained, the capacity to handle full autonomy in an appropriately accountable manner requires, among other things, amendments to relevant legislation, increased capacity and control over hiring and human resources and engagement of all stakeholders including representative unions.

Those conversations have begun.

I am pleased to announce that in addition to agreement on the need for appointment of a transition team led by the judiciary, we have been able to take concrete steps in regard to short term measures such as virements and transfer of certain delegated authorities that will afford immediate relief as even as we move toward the implementation of long-term permanent reforms. It is my hope that the transition can be completed by the beginning of 2018.

With those in mind I can now turn to an account of our stewardship over the past year for the next 40 minutes give or take a few.

MAJOR AREAS OF FOCUS FOR THE JUDICIARY

In keeping with our thematic approach, it behooves us as we prepare to assume greater financial responsibility, to ensure that our culture and internal processes are fine-tuned to ensure greater efficiency and value for money, particularly in these times of financial stringency. The budget will be read two weeks from today. I want to assure the nation that whatever we receive, and I hope we receive our due share, the good ship Judiciary is and will remain on course because vision is being exercised on the bridge. Therefore, while we continue to work towards the acquisition of adequate physical plant and suitable personnel, the focus for the time being remains on process reform. Every initiative that we undertake is the concrete expression of a vision that has already been articulated. What now follows is a brief summary of some of our significant advances and a foreshadowing of where we hope to be in the future. As we look forward, the observation of our first Prime Minister that the future of our nation is carried in our children’s school bags remains cogent as part of the guiding philosophy that informs our strategic initiatives.

I have observed on previous occasions that, historically, our legal system was never designed for and therefore consistently failed to address the particular challenges and needs of a most vulnerable sector of our society, our children and youth. I will therefore report first on developments in that area.

1. JUVENILE COURT PROJECT

The Juvenile Court Project, an extensive project with an extremely ambitious timeline, has been undertaken by the judiciary with funding from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented with the assistance of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the US National Centre for State Courts (NCSC). Thus far the project has seen several elements delivered including the passage and assent of the Family and Children Division Act, which enables the Judiciary to address Children matters in a less retributive way in an effort to stem the tide of criminality among our young people.

On full proclamation, the Division will comprise both a unified Family Court Sub-Division and a unified Children Court Sub-division.

The JCP project seeks to bring to life the Children Court sub-division by creating a Children Court system, the philosophy of which takes into account something that as adults, we all know; that adolescents do some crazy things and that most of them, given guidance and an opportunity to develop and mature will not continue to re-offend.

Empirical research suggests that, with appropriate interventions, prospects for successful rehabilitation are better for younger offenders.

Aware that appropriate interventions must be made to enable a positive maturation process, the Judiciary has together with colleagues in the police service, prisons, probation, children’s authority, the public and private bar, the ministry of education the IRO and others developed Children Court processes to offer appropriate interventions.

Key to the operation of the Children Court is the adoption of approaches that are rehabilitative in nature, and the provision of social services and programmes to assist children in embracing second chances when they come into conflict with the law. The Court is also being designed to provide judicial officers with the tools to engage additional supporting processes and procedures including, Peer Resolution programmes, alternative auxiliary programmes and hopefully appropriate placement options when adjudicating in matters related to children.

New Judges Rules for Children designed specifically to guide the police and other officials in the arrest, search, interrogation, and identification for children have been drafted and issued under the mantle of this project. I will speak about this in a little more detail shortly. New Children Court Rules have also been drafted and circulated twice over for consultation, and detailed protocols have been drafted to ensure that the interactions between the various agencies are founded on principles which support the overarching philosophy and condescend to process detail in the hope that all agencies are aware of their appropriate respective roles in the new dispensation.

In the course of this project the team has undertaken extensive youth outreach and interaction.

166 children in Trinidad and Tobago have been trained in Peer Resolution and have volunteered to perform a critical role in the court as Peer assessors. Of these, 20 children embarked in August this year on a study tour of youth and teen courts in the US. During this tour they visited several teen and youth courts, sat in on juvenile court cases, and interacted with senior judges from various jurisdictions. They also had the opportunity to attend the 2016 Summer Teen Court Attorney Training Program hosted by the Miami-Dade County.

Among the courts that the peer resolution youth volunteers attended was the Miami-Dade County Teen Court where 10 of them participated as jurors (in our system, peer assessors) in two trials involving teens who were in conflict with the law. In both trials, our volunteers were chosen as forepersons and delivered the sanctions to the teens before the court. They expressed that taking part in these two trials proved to be a very exciting, amazing and humbling experience.

They also overwhelmingly expressed the view that they felt that the system can work for their peers in Trinidad and Tobago.

We are indeed very proud of them and of all our Peer Volunteers who have and continue to participate so completely in their preparation for this new and unique role.

Aside from our Peer Volunteers, the project’s youth outreach has actively engaged 657 children throughout Trinidad and Tobago to discuss the new Children Court system, Peer Resolution and their views with regard to the country’s approach to juvenile crime.

103 adult volunteers have also been trained to support the children involved in Peer Resolution and of these adult volunteers 22 have been trained as PR trainers.

SPEECH continues tomorrow