It was history in the making for the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (ECSC) as for the first time in its 40-year history a woman presided over the official opening of the new law year.
Acting Chief Justice Janice Pereira on Tuesday delivered the new law year address via a video simulcast from St. Vincent and the Grenadines to the other ECSC menbers.
She told lawyers that the impact of the economic down turn is felt in all the member states of the OECS and also in the judiciary.
This she said has led to “increased administrative cost in the face of stringent budgets and decreased contributions”.
“The ECSC although faced with increased challenges especially with the quota of judges will continue to maintain its efficiency with the available resources and the quality of justice will not be compromised even in the harsh and difficulty times,” Pereira said.
She spoke on the topic “Improving efficiency and integrity in the administration of justice in time of economic adversity.”
See what happens when you mess with the justice system in a real country, and not the pappyshow called Dominica.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_tsmWx24Fg&feature=youtu.be
Doublespeak at its finest
Dear Madam Acting Chief Justice,
In your address on the occasion of the opening of the 2012/2013 legal calendar, you touched on some very important issues. I heard your call for members of the local Bar to participate in the activities of their association.
However, I am afraid that the serious cracks among members of the Bar based on the overgrowth of personal and professional egos, and the increasingly widening politically and ethical divides among members make what should be expected, an enormously difficult task.
But perhaps more importantly, our lawyers need to be more active in contributing to the health of our decaying democratic society. We need our lawyers to speak on issues dispassionately, intelligently, confidently and professionally.
Please Madam, encourage our local lawyers to be true to their profession. Remind them, Madam that they owe a duty to the wider society in preserving and promoting our social, constitutional and democratic values. In that regard, they must not shy away from their collective and personal responsibility in adding their voice in defense of our Constitution. The mummified silence, except for a few, is unacceptable. Like Dr Andre has already advised, good advocacy is not limited to putting forward a case in defense of a client. Our lawyers have a greater civic and legal responsibility to the wider society.
Madam, help our lawyers understand that they are well placed to inject life in our dying democracy and to restore our constitution as our supreme law. Advise our lawyers that it would be a violation of their professional duty to substitute your own selfish, politically partisan views for what they know to be the correct interpretation of the constitutional provisions of the Commonwealth of Dominica.
You may have heard Madam that our sacred constitution and supreme law is under serious attack. In fact, it was recently set aside by our Attorney General, who without provocation or reason, invoked the doctrine of necessity to justify his unconstitutional advice to the government. We are in this regrettable situation because of experienced senior members of the Bar in Dominica, who are failing the people and giving active support to a dictator.
Madam, I recalled the scolding that you gave to local Attorney William Riviere and that convinces me that you have the courage to do all of the above and to do so gracefully and charm.
Respectfully
Roseau Valley
allu always giving nice speach but when it come down to crucial judgements against corrupt governments allu rubbing shoulders with them…
i have no respect for the judiciary in the caribbean, allu still singing for allu breakfast lunch and dinner.
The solid advice given to junior and senior members of the Bar is appropriate and timely.
Junior members of the Bar are encouraged to acquire broader legal experience and exposure before hanging out their shingle.
Indeed, this is the ideal. The youth should learn from the elders who provide mentoring and training. The advice is a noble one that is well directed and well intent. However, it assumes that the senior attorneys are ready and willing to mentor and to provide guidance to the junior lawyers without exploiting them.
Many junior lawyers will tell sad tales of the lack of assistance and support of the more experienced lawyers. They will tell you of the hurdles and tremendous difficulties that they have in securing employment with more senior attorneys, who appear to be more focused on accumulating wealth and/or representing the interest of their political masters.
Even the search for employment with the government or its agencies is not an easy road to travel if one does not have the correct political ties.
Therefore, in these hard economic times, when every man/woman is struggling to survive financially and to ensure that the student loans are paid and families are fed, it is not easy. As difficult as it may be, one must jump into the murky waters of the billowy legal seas and learn to swim for mere survival among the professional legal sharks in this very competitive environment- hence the quality of justice suffers.
Respectfully
Roseau Valley
Some of them should retire by a certain age considering that they are financiallly well-off and make room for the younger ones. They could then take on the responsibility of mentoring them with their expertise.
Madam Chief Justice (AG,
Kindly, please share this message from the people of Dominica with Justice Gertel Thom.
Please ask her to muster the level of professional maturity that she may require to apologize to Dominicans whenever (i.e., when, at the appropriate time- for those legal persons who do not understand the meaning of the word) she realizes how wrong she was in not exercising the inherent jurisdiction of the Court and for her judgment in depriving Dominica of the justice that it deserves.
Please express our best wishes to InJustice Gertel Thom and ask her to return to Dominica to stand in solidarity with the people to fight the dictator that she gave victory over us and more so Madam, to join us in celebrating the victory over the dictator from the OECS Court of Appeal on or after 13 November 2012.
With our deepest gratitude.
Respectfully
Roseau Valley
Madam, when you were appointed, Roseau valley expressed congratulation and hope that you would focus on the tremendous delay and backlog that continue to make our justice system inefficient and ineffective. I thank you that since your acting appointment, we heard that one the landmark judgment of Justice Gertel Thom will be heard by the Appeal Court in November.
Of course, the economic and financial position of the Court ought not affect the quality and timeliness of justice. However, we in Dominica remain terribly disappointed that to date we do not know who our validly elected members of parliament are due to the excessive and inordinate delay in the justice system and the poor quality of justice served. To date, for instance, we await the reserved judgment in the Linton vs. Pinard-Byrne matter among others.
We are concerned Madam that there are too many important, matters languishing in our legal system for various reasons, which creates a backlog of cases from the magistracy to the Court of Appeal.
We hope that the Court will continue to serve all Member States by providing access to our justice system that is accountable, independent, fair, prompt, efficient and effective. That the ECSC will continue to offer the citizen of the OECS with justice that is not only glazed with but created to its core with professionalism and excellence.
We expect the court to be always mindful that it is the court of the people and as such it is always accountable to us the people in dispensing justice.
We look up to you and your Court Madam to help us become a better, more nature and more responsive society.
Respectfully
Roseau Valley
Madam,
While on the issue of delay and efficiency, could you kindly advise as to the status of the Rules related to the filing, serving and hearing of election petitions?
Please ensure that these Rules are in place before the next general elections in Dominica.
Thank yo with much respect
Roseau Valley
“thumbs up”
A little boy in Dominica put’s all his faith in you…please for the sake of all that is good and for goodness sake… let justice prevail. and let it NEVER be bought.
Madam Acting Chief Justice, we are encouraged that the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (ECSC) has acknowledged that we are living in challenging economic times and even the court is not spared the consequences of this fact.
In Dominica, we live in an era of severe constitutional crisis but the same court has ordered the official opposition in the parliament of Dominica to pay cost in a matter of national importance.
Considering the hard economic times that you referenced, we are hopeful that in the matter that comes before the Court of Appeal in November, the court will appropriately award sufficient cost in favor of the petitioners who are forced to beg the poor citizens of Dominica to help defray the high cost of brining the matter before the Eastern Caribbean Appeal Court, in which the State should have been involved and perhaps should have led the case in determining who are our validly elected members of parliament.
Madam, we patiently await the justice that we deserve come 13 November 2012 or soon thereafter.
Respectfully
Roseau Valley
Congatulations!!Woman power.
My congratulations Lady Pereira. You are making the entire Caribbean proud. Lots of success to you in creating a better Caribbean free from crime.
hmmmm they setting us up!cost going up?way papa.
Economic Downturn,wherenuh you mean it is all over the Globe?I thought it was only in Dominica we!
Woman Power! Nice lady.
Madame, you have your work cut out for you. One of the front burner matters that has to be addressed is the length of time it takes to deliver justice. Some matters just remian languishing in the files and eventually becoem the subject of much frustration. Please encourage and give new life to the reforms that are necessary. Dominica is suffering too long with simple cases going back five and often times more years before beingheard.
Congratulations though.
They all say the same thing and it all boils down to the politician they sre servibg. So it is tiwais boodere metais paiy.yo toute sr meme
***THAT CAN’T BE GOOD FOR JUSTICE***
This she said has led to “increased administrative cost in the face of stringent budgets and decreased contributions”.
That’s not a good sign for our justice system!!!
Can it??