In the DAILY NATION of Tuesday, September 12, 2017, in the article CJ Hits Back At CCJ, Sir Marston Gibson is alleged to have stated that the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), in questioning the long delays of justice in Barbados, also has delays, namely, the Maurice Tomlinson case.
I, too, looked up the CCJ website and could see no comparison to the position in Barbados.
I recall the situation under Sir David Simmons. Had he been given a further two years as Chief Justice of Barbados, the adoption of his suggested embracing of new technologies and management skills would have brought about a substantial improvement in our justice system.
Mediation is not the problem-solver as is suggested by Sir Marston. It is only a dent in our jurisprudence.
In complete support of the CCJ, I suggest that the sooner the British government and its Supreme Court decide that the CCJ is the final Court of the Caribbean and that the Privy Council will not hear any further cases from the Caribbean, this would be a wake-up call for the delinquents.
On a personal note, I have had a civil matter in contract before the Supreme Court outstanding for nearly 18 years. A judge in this case has taken almost five years and has not given a judgment. My attorney at law has written to the Chief Justice with no response or action.
I quote from the said DAILY NATION: “Judges cannot be expected for five days a week to hear applications at the rate of 15 to 20 per day, find time to write decisions and still have time for life and family.”
The management skills in question are that no judge should be asked to hear 15 cases a day – that is, 300 cases per month – and be given one month to write judgments.
Here I respectfully beg to differ based on almost 50 years in marketing and finance throughout the Western world – working and managing all races.
– CARROLL MORRIS SR
