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SPEECH BY RT. HON. P. J. PATTERSON TO THE
CORNWALL BAR ASSOCIATION,
SATURDAY, MAY 12, 2001.
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Q
THE ENDS OF JUSTICE
Just as each individual is driven by some personal objective, so
must every profession be inspired by a collective sense of purpose.
Lawyers, so often maligned (but not always undeservedly) should
have only one motive and a single guiding star - serving the ends
of justice.
(Economist ) Justice is even handed.
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1. EQUALITY BEFORE THE LAW
(unlike the doors of the Ritz)
- The Legal Aid Act
- Coordinated legal aid system under the
administration of a legal lli-d <SOuncil
Legal Aid Assignments
Managing your cases so that clients understand how the
justice system works - so that they are assisted and not feel
victimised.
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2. ACCESSIBLE
- Resident Magistrate Court
- Expansion of jurisdiction
- 2 or more in every parish
- Professional Clerk of the Courts
Sub Registry of the Supreme Court
- to facilitate the processing of some cases in the
region and allow easier access.
The Chief Justice has advised me that although arrangements are in
place for undefended divorce~ be heard in Montego Bay!
practitioners are not making full of this.
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<~J Undefended divorces can be heard in any parish if suitable
arrangements are made with the Registrar.
Neither do practitioners advise the Registrar of the Supreme Court
of their desire to have civil cases tried here/even though this is
available to them. These are steps taken for the benefit of litigants,
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witnesses and Attorneys. I urge you to take advantage of this
facility.
The creation of Night Courts, Family Court, The Drug Court
All these form a part of our plans to make justice more accessible
to the people whilst at the same time we work to improve the speed
and quality of the Justice dispensed in our land.
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3. INDEPENDENT
Much of the debate surrounding the existence of a single Ministry
responsible for National Security and Justice is misplaced.
In any system, where the separation of powers truly exists, it is not
the Ministry which dispen~ s!iceJ t is the Courts.
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In Jamaica, the DPP is subject to the ''direction of no one else".
A truly Independent prosecutor.
( The Attorney General, has powers, which derive not only from the
antiquity of the office but conferred on him by the Constitution. \
Judicial independence is a bal!Q__wed principle. It is of critical
importance to the maintenance of law and order and the democratic
traditions by which we are guided in our national life.
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This Government,.~ orts, and will continue to support judicial
independence. It is a principle, which we cherish and have
embraced wholeheartedly.
0 Our Judiciary commands tJre respect for the manner in which they
perform their functions.
Justice abhors interference and frowns upon any kind of
encumbrance.
A Judge must be free to arnve at his decisions without the
perception or reality of interference. If it were otherwise,
confidence in the justice of their decisions would be undermined.
It is true that judicial decisions are always likely to attract
disagreement and debate: but any such disagreement or debate
cannot be founded on the basis that judicial independence has been
compromised.
Judicial independence has as part of its foundation, the security of
tenure. Our present Constitution provides for this:
Tenure ~ 1\-yt 1_!!,_
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Amendments to Judiciary Act of 1992, relating to salaries
and judicial benefits.
4. DEFINITIVE
The Court that sits at the apex of the judicial system in a
democratic society / is one of the principal agencies of collective
decision making by which the Constitution is given meaningful
reality in the lives of the people.
It is the institution through which the collective identity of the
people is continually defined.
It is by adjudication that such a Court apprehends the basic terms
of the image of the people's identity in order to give life to that
image, to make it real.
It can hardly be doubted that, regardless of the origin of our
constitutional arrangements, we must undertak~ for ourselves, the
crucial task of interpreting our fundamental laws.
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This, in my view, is the single most compelling argument for the
establishment of our final court of appeal within our own sphere of
influence in a shared geographical space.
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For~, the establishment of the Caribbean Court of Justice will be
our most conscious use of constitutional reform since the
attainment of Independence to refashion our definition of ourselves
as a people. For, as our constitutional practice now stands, we
locate all authority externally to ourselves, in the authoritative
declarations of others.
OTHER IMPERATIVES - - -~
The enjoyment of the rights to which our citizens are entitled
depends, in large measure on the access that they have to all courts,
including the final Appellate Court. It can hardly be doubted that
an Itinerant Court which may sit in the country from which an
appeal springs would be less burdensome on the pockets of
prospective litigants.
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In the present scheme of things, a wealthy litigant may frustrate the
claims of his opponent by appealing to a court in London which is
beyond the reach of the vast majority of persons within our society.
And the question of access has another far-reaching dimension. It
is clear that the development and the aspirations of our Judges, not
unlike any other calling or vocation, must be grounded on attaining
through merit the highest positions in the judicial firmament.
The aspirations of our legal practitioners, even before they are
admitted to practice, must enjoin them to reach the pinnacle of the
legal profession. Further, they must be challenged to practise in
their Highest Court; helping to mould the national mind and the
shaping and articulating of the principles upon which our societal
arrangements and our constitutional governance are to be
grounded.
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Any lingering doubts concerning the ability of the peoples the
Caribbean to ~ ce ~ rt, with the requisite independence and
erudition mustf-be putf o'; est.~
There can be no question that our region has the ability to provide
a final court manned by distinguished jurists/ a court free from
political and other influences and in which litigants will have
confidence f s we seek to develop a jurisprudence relevant to our
circumstances and a system responsive to the values and
or-wv'
aspirations that have sprung from ~ r social ethos.
Due Process & the Rule of Law
Due Process and the Rule of Law are essential foundations to the
dispensation of true justice for all.
But these twin pillars are never to be taken for granted nor left to
fend for themselves. They need constant fortification.
Perhaps, the greatest danger springs precisely from those quarters,
which in espousing the cause of justice and asserting the
paramountcy of human rights, would wish to circumvent or short
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circuit the system when the pace and the eventual results do not
accord with their own feelings and expectations.
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Commissions of Enquiry, ,..b. ecome necessary from time to time -
but they are no substitute for the due process which our Law and
Constitution prei~. ~ ~ .,
Nor should we jump to conclusions or seek to obtain a verdict
before all the evidence is in and weighed according to law.
Those who transgress have rights on which we must not trample -
but so too do victims and the wider society.
We cannot allow those persons who have no respect for the rights
of others, including ~ criminals who have no respect for the life
of others, to prevail:
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Nor,, _ heed the call of those who seek to bend the rule of law, no
matter whether their stated intentions are noble or they merely
reflectiag hidden agendas.
As we know only too well, the law is never static - it is constantly
subject to evolution.
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bikcwis-e, J e improvements that have been made to facilitate the
administration of justice - the victim support programme, the
appointment of Judicial Clerks, the use of computerisation, the
advent of an imaging file inventory system, the decentralization of
the justice system, (to name but a few) are commendable.
But they merely constitute a platform for further developments as
we seek to provide access quality of the service and allow matters
to be resolved within a reasonable time. [N.B. Speed of delivery ·
must not result in injustice~ also have to ensure that the system
works in a fashion that is transparent and maintain public
confidence]
The Commercial Court v<--:, ~ , ~
Intention to establish the post of Coroner's Office to handle
administrative matters of the Court and assist the Coroner
generally in the proper discharge of legal functions.
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CONCLUSION
The law is aptly compared with a demanding Mistress.
If evidence were needed for that proposition, many of us
could provide eloquent testimony, but the statement spea~
volumes for itself.
The demands on each of us have become even more
compelling with the advent of globalisation and an
acceptance of the universality of human rights.f'e are called
upon as a nation, as a profession to respond to a transnational
network of structures/ o new requirements of accountability
in an open and democratic society; ~o higher standards of
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justice delivery and the exercise of preventative diplomacy.
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No matter from which side of the -Bar we practice,
irrespective of whether we are called to the Inner Bar or the
~ Bar, regardless of the ~ ociation to which we
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subscribe, we are all obliged to put the ends of Justice first
and foremost.
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Whenever there is an attempt to win at all costs, Justice is the
lofser.
Congratulate Cornwall Bar ·
Ct~ Deserving Recipients
Positive that your Association will insist on the highest levels
of integrity and quality performance so that our clients and
citizenry will enjoy the timely delivery of the highest
standards of Justice for all.
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