Should part-heard cases be restarted de novo?

There seems to be a difference of opinion among lawyers as to whether there is a need for partheard cases to be restarted before a new magistrate upon these being left unfinished, as in the case of the former Chief Magistrate upon her being appointed a High Court judge.

Certainly, this is a challenge for a young, bright, articulate attorney to flex his or her muscles voluntarily and do some challenging research into the authorities which would properly inform opinion.

I make the following observations: (a) Are the proceedings of courts (Magistrates or High) not being recorded by verbatim reporters? Should this be the case, cannot any magistrate “worth his or her salt” read these transcripts and form an opinion, thus obviating the need for the “humbug” and the cost of restarting? If not, why is it not so? Indeed, here lies yet another constraint on the administration of justice.

(b) Is this not yet another reason for abolishing repetitious preliminary hearings? Further, in a letter dated May 7, I had pointed to the following possible implications: “What seems to have been left to conjecture, thus far, is an authoritative account as to whether ‘business left unfinished’ by one judicial officer can legally be dealt with by another, given particular circumstances.

What if a presiding officer dies in office? Perhaps a look at other jurisdictions will assist in the determination.

“Needless to say, the situation dealt with impinges on the Prison Service and the Remand Yard, in particular. It also has serious implications for the career path of individuals who may have been appointed to the Magistracy.” There is a truism: “Out of evil cometh good.” The matter treated herein is but one of the several inhibitions militating against the proper administration of justice in TT . We should therefore “take the bull by its horns” and attempt to turn what may appear to be a disadvantage in the Ayres-Caesar issue to advantage.

From the above, it would be clear where I stand in this particular matter.

The Parliament should avoid the now customary political and personality postures and put in place the legislation necessary to deal with permanently what is, in fact, a long-standing but unobserved matter in the proper administration of justice.

ERROL OC CUPID Trincity, Tacarigua