Chief justice wants control of court funding

The Jamaican judiciary wants changes to how its budget is allocated, urging the Parliament to give it direct oversight of its expenditure.

The call came from Chief Justice Bryan Sykes during a press conference yesterday, amid growing complaints about the conditions of some of the country’s 60 courts.

The chief justice said while lawyers, clerks, administrative staff, and other people are entitled to function in properly maintained buildings, the court’s budget is not as extensive as the justice ministry’s, and so it is forced to collaborate.

Sykes said a solution to the problem is to consider and implement what obtains in Guyana or Kenya where the judiciary has direct control of its funding.

“One solution is to do what is done in Guyana and Kenya, and that is, the judiciary prepares its budget and the allocation comes directly from Parliament. It isn’t mediated through any ministry of justice,” said Sykes.

“In Guyana, I think it’s the only judiciary in the region where they buy their own land and build their own courts. They are in the business of buying and developing court infrastructure ... . And also to give the CAD (Court Administration Division) the capacity to do this; that is, in terms of the human resources and so on. That’s a solution,” Sykes added.

He said, in going this route, accountability mechanisms would be implemented, citing operations in Kenya where the chief justice there reports to parliament on how money by the judiciary is spent.

“So, it’s not a matter of giving the judiciary the money and that’s it. You have accountability mechanisms that would be needed because it’s public funds,” Sykes noted.

However, Justice Minister Delroy Chuck has countered that suggestion, noting that there are “very little” funds to spend on capital projects.

“If it was a situation where there was adequate money available and they don’t have to compete within executives for whether you get courthouses, prisons, hospitals or schools, there wouldn’t be a problem. But, in a situation where there are very little funds to spend on capital projects, I’m not too sure that is what the chief justice or judiciary should really be engaged in,” said Chuck.

“I don’t think, since Independence, we have ever had enough money to say you can pick and choose whether you build hospitals, prisons, and so on. So, it is something which the chief justice has to be very careful to say whether or not they would like that, because, at the moment, most capital projects are engaged in either by borrowing money or in public-private sector partnership. So, it’s not a question that there is a huge surplus of money to be spent on capital projects,” he told The Gleaner.

Further, the justice minister said, the CAD was set up to ensure that there was no dependency on the Ministry of Justice to manage and maintain the courts.

He said the justice ministry is responsible for special projects and the building of new courts.

BUILDING NEW COURTS

Chuck said he agreed with Sykes that new courts are needed but that it depends on the ability to build new courts. He also noted that several courts have been upgraded, including the Court of Appeal and Spanish Town Court, and that there is in place a new family court in St Ann.

He said he has been in discussions with Sykes and Minister of Finance and the Public Service Dr Nigel Clarke to build courts through private-public sector partnerships.

“In all sincerity, the real challenge is to be able to spend the money during the course of a fiscal year because, by the time you are able to spend the money, the fiscal year is finished. What is needed, in my view, is a better protocol worked out with the Court Administration Division and the Ministry of Justice to properly separate what is due for maintenance and what is special project,” said Chuck.

He said many things the CAD engages in should be dealt with by the justice ministry, pointing to a $40-million air conditioning problem at the Supreme Court which he said was only brought to the ministry’s attention four weeks ago.

He said this could have been dealt with a year ago.

“Again, we want to put in solar at the Supreme Court, only to hear that the Court Administration Division says that they will put in solar. That’s a $20/$30-million project. They could use that to properly maintain the court and leave that to the Ministry of Justice to do.

“So, unfortunately, the Court Administration Division, rather than spending their funds primarily on maintenance, they engage in projects which the Ministry of Justice should properly be doing. So a proper protocol needs to be drawn,” said Chuck.

kimone.francis@gleanerjm.com