‘Don’t rush’ on temporary judges

There should be no rush to appoint temporary judges unless there is a change in the process for judicial officers.

That is the view of Queen’s Counsel Philip Pilgrim, who has researched the state of the judiciary in Barbados, including the method of judges’ selection, the backlog of cases, the excruciatingly slow delivery of justice and whether the public’s confidence in the system has been shaken.

In June, Attorney General Dale Marshall QC, in response to the ongoing environmental issues at the Supreme Court Complex that has scattered the Supreme Courts and other related judicial offices from the central location at Whitepark Road, St Michael, thus further contributing to the backlog problem, suggested that at least three judges would have to be temporarily appointed to deal with the backlog.

However, Pilgrim a former president of the Industrial Court of Antigua and Barbuda and a long-standing civil attorney, in a paper completed in 2017 entitled The Delivery of Justice In Barbados – Is Public Confidence Now Shaken? pointed out that the selection method does not conform to international standards. (AC)

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