Legal luminaries bat for urgent reforms

Retired Court of Appeal Justice Hillary Phillips says the pace of modernisation of the justice system in Jamaica should be expedited.

“We have been speaking about getting to a paperless registry, getting into paperless offices, but I don’t know if we are really ready to go there,” Phillips said at a recent ceremony to recognise retired stalwarts of the legal profession.

She believes that the inclusion of modern technology and infrastructure in the courtroom should be the next step.

Her remarks were echoed by Chief Justice Bryan Sykes, who argued that the court system should be treated more like a service rather than a physical space.

He said, “If you travel around our country, you will see that many of our courts are old, and so they are in need of modernisation so that they can be appropriately equipped to function in the 21st century because increasingly, technology can assist in the delivery of legal services and also broaden access to justice.”

The Reverend Ronald Thwaites, who was one of the attorneys awarded for more than 50 years of service, said that the modernisation of the court system must involve providing sufficient protection for vulnerable individuals.

He said that the most pressing challenge faced by the judicial system was the slow pace of updating laws and procedures and implementing sufficient protections for marginalised groups.

Thwaites, who founded the Kingston Legal Aid Clinic in 1972, said: “All of our laws need a robust process of legal reform. I don’t think it is given sufficient attention.”

The senior attorney said that after 50 years, he was concerned that the practice of law did not always lead to justice.

He recommends that teaching budding lawyers to appreciate the social realities of the legal profession should be part of the continuing professional development of attorneys.

The Jamaican Bar Association recognised Dr Adolph Edwards, Dorothy Pine-McLarty, and retired Court of Appeal justices Phillips and Dennis Morrison.