Chief Justice opens the 2008/2009 Law Year;
Calls on legal fraternity to be guided by honesty, integrity and fairness in all undertakings

By Pauline Waruguru
Nevis Reporter-SKNVibes.com

Chief Justice of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court - Hugh Rawlins

Justice Rawlins address was broadcast simultaneously by nine radio stations along the OECS News-link. In St. Kitts and Nevis, members of the legal fraternity viewed and listened to his address at the St. Paul’s Church in Charlestown.

The Governor General, Sir Cuthbert Sebastian, and his Deputy, Eustace John, were present during the simulcast address.

The Chief Justice highlighted the achievements made and cited  the introduction of technology in the courts’ process; the introduction of court-connected mediation; the introduction of a Court Structures Project under which is subsumed the Criminal Justice Reform Project, by way of a Criminal Division and the institution of a Commercial Division of the Federation’s Court.
 
He said the Court Structures Reform Project includes the proposed institution of a Family Court Division of the Federation’s Court, as well as a Halls of Justice Project. There is also a project aimed at integrating the Magistracy and the Supreme Court.

“These projects have set the groundwork which successive Chief Justices must consolidate and seek to build upon,” he said. He said Justices in the region had received international recognition and noted retired judges continue to make a major contribution.

Justice Rawlins said a major improvement in the year under review was the improvement in case-flow management. 

“This revolves around the work of Registrars and Court Administrators and the critical imperative that the Court must push cases through the system in a timely manner. Cognisant of this, the Court, through the Judicial Education Institute, conducted joint sessions between Registrars and Court Administrators at the Annual Judicial and Registrars’ Conference in St. Kitts and Nevis in July this year. We intend to increase our focus on this area of the system in the coming year.”

~~Adz:Left~~ Turning to Rules, which came into force eight years ago, he said there was a present need for the revision of some aspects of these Rules and for the making of Practice Directions, Protocols and Practice Notes. 

The Mediation Programme, he noted, continues to provide a credible alternative to the traditional adversarial approach to dispute resolution. Justice Rawlins said during the new Law Year a training programme would be in place for mediators, who would be offered specialised training in family mediation.

“My observation is that the Court’s mediation services are under-utilised. We encourage our Courts proactively to recommend mediation to litigants. We also encourage legal practitioners and the public to make better use of these services, which provide a flexible, relatively quick and cost effective means for resolving disputes,” he said

He said the keeping of records of births, deaths, marriages, civil and criminal records, records of probate, land titles, company related activities and intellectual property would be computerised. “It is my view that this must be accomplished in order to keep on terms the methods by which business is conducted in changing times,” he said.

“I am pleased to report that an Electronic-Filing Pilot Project will shortly commence with a group of Attorneys in Saint Lucia. Additionally, the Interactive Voice Response Technology, which allows users to track the progress of cases of interest to them, will also be introduced in the Magistrates’ Court in Dominica. 

The commencement of the use of the Jury Manager Software is also underway. This will be facilitated by amendments to the Criminal Codes in Saint Lucia and Dominica. This software will provide increased efficiency in Jury Management. The intention is to extend this facility to the courts of other member states,” he said.

 The ECSC, he noted, had recently facilitated the Family Court in Saint Lucia in the establishment of a Video Link Facility for child victims and witnesses. The project was financed by the British Government through the Resident British High Commissioner. 

The objective of the facility is to improve the protection of child victims and witnesses by the installation of a video link for the Family Court. This facility should lend itself to the successful prosecution of cases of domestic violence, child abuse and unlawful carnal knowledge. The project entails the setting up of cameras, TV monitors and microphones at two separate locations: one in the courtroom, and the other at an off-site location.

The establishment of the Commercial Division of the High Court, which would be headquartered in the Virgin Islands, is at a very advanced stage, the Chief Justice said.

He also said the OECS Authority of the Heads of Government, at their 49th Meeting held on May, 24 2008 in Saint Lucia, approved the draft report and the proposed bill and draft agreement for the integration and regionalisation of the magistracy. The agreement seeks administratively to merge the Magistrates’ Courts of the OECS with the higher judiciary under the supervision of the Chief Justice. The Honourable Heads of Government requested the fine-tuning of the proposed bill.

He told the members of the legal fraternity that there were many complaints from the public reaching him, which raise serious ethical and professional questions. He called on those in the legal profession to be guided by honesty, integrity and fairness in all of their undertakings. “Knowledge of the law puts a powerful tool at our disposal. I am constantly reminded of the words of my fore-bearers that while it is a good thing to have a lion’s strength, it is tyrannous to use it as such,” he said.

“We are in the process of engaging the services of a person to draft the Rules which are required to support the legislation for disciplining members of the profession. The Court cannot address the problem alone...the Court cannot be cast in the role of complainant, investigator and prosecutor,” he pointed out.

He appealed to the Bar Associations to embark on the relevant continuing legal education programmes and to institute systems for ensuring that ethical standards are known and adhered to.