The Tribune

By YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business Reporter

ykemp@tribunemedia.net

Lawyers yesterday urged the Magistrate’s Court to restart the issuance of summonses and setting court dates, describing the current situation as akin to “tumbleweeds in the streets”.

Mario McCartney, managing partner of Lex Justis Chambers, told Tribune Business that the inability to get court dates and the hold on issuing summonses as a result of the COVID-19 emergency orders has “stifled everything”.

He added: “It’s literally tumbleweeds in the streets, like the cowboy days.” He called for the restrictions preventing the Magistrate’s Court from fulfilling these functions to be lifted.

“The emergency order is in place, and I believe we are slowly adapting and certain things need to be done,” Mr McCartney added. “That’s a vital part of our industry. The courts have to function at 100 percent.

“I know they had made some changes with having video conferencing for now, which we applaud and that’s highly welcomed, but certainly the court should be functioning as it were in the past.”

Mr McCartney said that while he does not have any clients being impacted by this situation at the Magistrate’s Court, he added: “There are potentials, which we have had to advise that there is very little that we can do, so it has directly impacted business.”

A managing partner art a Bahamian law firm, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Magistrate’s Court being unable to issue and file summonses, or set court dates, is “affecting me very greatly in a very great way”.

They added: “I have been there four times with three summonses to file and they are not accepting or filing any documents. This is really affecting me because my client has some tenants who refuse to pay the rent, and we are trying to get an eviction order and we can’t get it. This is affecting me.

“My clients are doing nothing about this right now. I have the summons and they have asked me to the prepare the summons, which I have done, and I went to the court and the police officer stopped me at the door twice.

“I went another time when I figured they would have been open because the Supreme Court is open. You can file documents in the Supreme Court but you can’t file any in the Magistrate’s Court, and I can’t understand it, unless perhaps they are working out a system. That’s the only thing I can put it to,” the attorney continued.

“They are probably working out a system to put a new system in place, but I don’t understand why we are unable to file documents. I am giving he government and the attorney general (Carl Bethel) the benefit of the doubt. I have a hunch they are working on making the system better.”