Confidence in the Judiciary on decline

However, we can correlate previous scandals within the Judiciary with past polls to infer whether such events reduced confidence in that institution.

Beginning with a 2005 baseline, a survey by Market Opinion & Research International (MORI) found that 48 per cent had a lot/some confidence in judges and 43 per cent little/no confidence.

In 2006, chief justice Sat Sharma was suspended from office over allegations of improper conduct and an impeachment tribunal was set up.

This issue ended abruptly in 2007 when chief magistrate Sherman Mc Nicolls refused to testify against Sharma, even though it was Mc Nicolls’ allegations that had triggered the issue.

But a follow-up survey by MORI in 2008 indicated an increase in those who had a great deal/some confidence in judges (51 per cent) with those who had little/none staying about the same (42 per cent).

Then in April 2010, another scandal erupted when Justice Herbert Volney resigned from the bench to become a UNC candidate.

In November 2010, the World Values Survey (employing the local firm HHB & Associates, which also did the MORI surveys) found that only 31 per cent of respondents expressed a great deal/quite a lot of confidence in the courts, with 61 per cent expressing not very much/none at all.

(It may be, however, that the two polls are not strictly comparable, since MORI asked about judges, whereas the WVS asked about the courts.) But a 2011 poll conducted by Market Facts and Opinion (MFO) asked respondents about the judicial system, finding that only 18 per cent had confidence, and in a 2012 survey this figure fell to 16 per cent.

The low finding was echoed by Solution by Simulation, which in 2011 found only 18 per cent expressed confidence in the judicial system, although this went up to 22 per cent in 2015.

CJ Archie was appointed in January 2008.

Despite the spike in confidence in that year, the data suggest he has since presided over a decline in confidence in the institution he heads.

The various court problems triggered by the Ayers-Caesar job interview are hardly likely to help.

KEVIN BALDEOSINGH Freeport