Senior citizen wants chief justice to free her from 14-year ‘bondage’

A senior citizen whose case has been on the civil list at the Supreme Court for 14 years is now making a special plea to Chief Justice Bryan Sykes to help to end what she considers her bondage by the justice system.

“I have spent all my money on legal fees, wasted many days going to court, and not even one judge can look at my case and say, ‘This case cannot be on the list for so long, it must come to an end’,” complained 74-year-old Doril Barclay as she wept uncontrollably on Tuesday, a day before delivering a letter outlining her plight to Sykes.

The last time Barclay went to court, she said she was told to return on November 25 and the judge advised her to get a lawyer. She explained that she had two lawyers before and that she just cannot afford a third lawyer because, after retiring as a post mistress 18 years ago, the Ministry of Finance has not yet taken steps to pay her any pension.

“So, you see, between the Supreme Court and the Ministry of Finance, I can get no justice,” claimed Barclay.

“The justice system has me in bondage and I feel like I am a slave bound by the justice system, because there is no compassion for an old woman like me,” she emphasised.

Barclay describes her civil case as one of the simplest on the list and argued that even a child could adjudicate on it.

“All I am asking is for the court to make an order that I am entitled to have the right of way to my property, which I have been using since I was born on the land, and order that the road be restored,” Barclay sought to explain.

WILLING TO TESTIFY

She outlined that there was a surveyor’s report on her file and photographs of the building in the roadway and that she was at a loss as to why the matter could not be resolved.

One of Barclay’s relatives told The Gleaner that he was willing to testify in court because he used to drive his car right to her gate but, since the offending building was placed in the right of way to her home, he can no longer do so.

The property, which is in Lawrence Tavern, St Andrew, had belonged to Barclay’s grandparents and, when they died, the property was shared among their children, according to the will. Barclay’s mother inherited a quarter acre of the property and, when she died, she willed her portion to Barclay, who was her only child.

Barclay, who was born on the land and lived there all her life, explained that her mother built a house on her portion of the land and had an eight-foot right of way from the parochial road to her house. She said, when she became an adult, she built a house near to her mother’s house and enjoyed easy access to her house until 2010.

Barclay said she has a registered title for her property.

There is a house some distance below her property which belonged to her grandparents and, after they died, another relative occupied that house. She said that, 14 years ago, she noticed an addition being done to that house and the building was extended onto the road to her house. She reported the matter to the Kingston and St Andrew Municipal Corporation which, in June 2010, placed a stop order on the building.

The stop order was subsequently disobeyed, she claimed, because, after a few weeks, work continued on the building. Someone then advised her to consult a lawyer and, after doing so, she said, a suit was filed in the Supreme Court in August 2010.

Barclay said she made her first appearance in court in September 2010 and, since then, she has made countless appearances in court “but not one judge has taken a serious look at the case to say that the case has been on the list for too long and should be tried”.

Barclay said she hopes her letter to the chief justice will spur him to take the initiative to have the case disposed of, so she can be relieved of the stress and heartache that the inordinate delay is causing her.

editorial@gleanerjm.com