Chief Justice Bryan Sykes has painted a messy picture of the conditions at courthouses across Jamaica, even as efforts continue to improve the situation.
Addressing the media during a press briefing at the Jewel Paradise Cove hotel in Runaway Bay, St Ann yesterday, Sykes accepted that the judiciary, through the Court Administration Division (CAD) which was established in 2009, has the responsibility to, among other things, maintain court buildings. He, however, made it clear that he believes the issue of inadequate funding is stifling the CAD’s ability to do so.
The press briefing was called to provide an update on conditions at courts islandwide.
Sykes was accompanied by Chester Crooks, chief judge of the parish courts, and Tricia Cameron-Anglin, CEO/director of the CAD.
The chief justice said that, parish by parish, most of the island’s 60 or more courthouses are critically in need of repairs and, in several cases, new buildings are required.
He indicated that the current situation has come about as a result of a lack of adequate and proper maintenance over the years.
While reminding those in attendance that the issue of poor infrastructure and decayed courthouses has been documented since 2007, Sykes said some of the works needed on court buildings require capital expenditure, which falls in the lap of the Ministry of Justice.
“Maintaining the court infrastructure is a collective responsibility that involves cooperation, communication, and proactive measures from all stakeholders involved in the maintenance of our court buildings. Our role here is not to assign blame or point fingers but to emphasise the significance and importance of regular maintenance,” the chief justice said.
“This collective responsibility is shared by the judiciary through the Court Administration Division and the executive through the Ministry of Justice. Let me say at the outset that the judiciary accepts that it has a responsibility to maintain the court buildings but, in this, there must be an acceptance by the Ministry of Justice that some maintenance involves some significant expenditure, that is really capital expenditure and not maintenance as in replacing fixtures or painting a wall or repairing a leaking pipe.”
In 2007, a Jamaican Justice System Reform Task Force, chaired by the late Professor Barrington Chevannes, as well as a Jamaica Justice Reform Project team comprising members of the Ministry of Justice and members of the Canadian Bar Association, both made reference to the poor conditions at the island’s courthouses.
“That report [by Chevannes] indicated that there was a significant problem with the court infrastructure,” Sykes said.
“It was described as old and dilapidated and inadequate; this is all in the task force report of 2007. In 2009, the Vision 2030 document by the executive was produced and, within that document, it made the point that the court infrastructure was poor and inadequate.”
Sykes said some of the challenges identified in the Vision 2030 document include increasing demands and often overstretched resources, outdated technology and infrastructural inadequacies.
He said a SWOT analysis was done.
“And, under the part ‘Weaknesses of the Jamaica Court System’ the following was noted. ‘A number of things including delays in disposing of cases resulting in backlog’, which has improved. But the critical one is at number two: ‘Poor infrastructure and decayed courthouses’.
“These reports were not done by the judiciary; these reports were done by the executive so that, since 2007 and certainly by 2009, it was well known that our court infrastructure was poor and the courthouses decayed. But, nonetheless, the judiciary is committed to providing the best quality service in the circumstances.”
Sykes said the new family court in St Ann [which is not yet opened] is the only court in Jamaica that has accommodation for different occupational groups.
He further referred to Kenya and Guyana as examples of how the judicial system should be set up.
In a parish-by-parish breakdown of the inadequacies of the court system, Chief Justice Bryan Sykes noted:
· Manchester – a court building is needed as court is housed in a plaza;
· St Thomas – one court is located at a temporary location, as a result of a fire, but this has been the case for 15 years; it’s also flood prone;
· Portland – the long-standing sewerage problem remains;
· St Mary – A severe electrical problem existed, up to 10 days ago, which should have been fixed by now;
· St Ann – lack of space; building owned by Municipal Corporation;
· Trelawny – the roof of the main court caved in some years ago; new building needed, not just maintenance;
· St James – the issue of flooding; search on for land to build and relocate;
· Hanover – a relatively new court built in the last 40 years, requires extensive maintenance and the CAD doesn’t have the funds;
· Westmoreland – the air condition unit needs to be rewired;
· St Elizabeth – building owned by Municipal Corporation;
· Clarendon – work was done recently and it’s okay;
· St Catherine – Portmore outstation is a quad house converted to a courtroom; inadequate; In Linstead – Hurricane Beryl made the situation worse and it’s not good for a court to be located on top of a police station;
· Kingston and St Andrew – regarding the traffic court near Sabina Park another storey was expected to be built; the family court needs proper facilities and space; Half-Way Tree – has outgrown its present accommodation.