The Tribune

By EARYEL BOWLEG

Tribune Staff Reporter

ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

WHILE admitting that the courts must focus on getting cases to trial as soon as possible, Chief Justice Sir Brian Moree said violence against people on bail is a matter for law enforcement.

He noted that once bail is granted, the courts have no control over what happens outside the courtroom other than to try and expedite matters as soon as possible.

The chief justice’s comments come at a time when the issue is in the public domain as a number of persons out on bail have been killed recently.

Asked yesterday about dealing with this trend, Sir Brian explained: “Well, the way that the judiciary has to address the problem is this: when persons are accused of an offence, they are entitled to apply for bail. Now the law sets down the governing principles, which needs to be applied when somebody applies for bail.

“We have to understand under the Constitution there’s a presumption of innocence and the Court of Appeal has laid down very clearly what these principles are that must be applied. It’s not a question of the judge wanting to grant bail or not wanting to grant bail. That isn’t the issue. It is a question of applying the law with regards to these applications and when that is done the judge either grants bail or does not grant bail.

“Now once when bail is granted then obviously we in the courts have no control over what happens outside the courtroom other than to try and get these cases to trial as soon as possible and that comes back to what I was mentioning a moment ago. How long does it take us to get a case to trial and, once we’re in trial, how long does it take for us to complete the trial.”

He added: “Those are the points which we have to look at in collaboration with the other stakeholders in the criminal justice system. The answer is not for the courts to simply deny bail – the law doesn’t allow that. We have to follow the law and in any case that is before a judge the judge has to look at the circumstances of that particular case, apply the relevant principles and come up with a decision and that’s what we do.”

He noted that there is a perception that an individual should not be granted bail and people question why bail was granted in particular cases.

However, the chief justice asserted that in every case the decision whether or not to grant bail is not based on the personal view of a judge or a magistrate.

Instead, it is based upon a consideration of the specific facts and circumstances of that case and then they must apply the legal principles and make a decision, he said.

“And so I think that sometimes it may be thought that a person shouldn’t be granted bail but in those circumstances you have to look at the principles. You have to look at the law. If a judge does not grant bail in circumstances which are improper, then the likelihood is that person is going to appeal and the Court of Appeal is going to reverse that decision,” he told The Tribune.

“So that’s the way it works. This isn’t a question of personal views. This is a question of applying the law to the facts of circumstances in every case. What is happening with regards to our society with so many persons on bail being the victims of a shooting or, I guess, some other violent act? (It) is a matter which has to be addressed by the law enforcement agencies and in the court system we have to focus on getting these cases to trial as soon as possible.”

Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis on Monday asserted that courts have to “step up” in regards to hearing murder cases.

Sir Brian did not want to directly address the comments of the prime minister, but insisted the courts are doing what they can.

“He certainly expressed a view on it and I don’t wish to say anything directly on that. I would only say this: the courts are working very hard with limited resources to deal with this backlog and hear cases the best we can.

“I think that the public needs to understand why are these delays occurring. Once they understand it then perhaps they will appreciate that we need an holistic approach to solving the problem. We in the judiciary accept our responsibility for processing these cases as best we can with the limited resources that we have, but the judges are working very hard to deal with the backlog with regard to the specific time it takes to finish a trial – that depends on many factors case by case.

“And the judges have strong case management powers, which allows them to try to conduct the trial in a way which is efficient, but also respectful of the constitutional rights that accused persons have before the court. It’s a balance and we in the judiciary have to strike that balance through the management of the case.”

Sir Brian highlighted that the backlog of cases in court goes back a “very long way”.

“We’re going back certainly eight, nine, ten years ago when this backlog has accumulated over a period of time.”

He added that the COVID-19 pandemic compounded the problem because there was a period of time on the criminal side that all jury trials were suspended due to being unable to accommodate them within the limited space available.

He stated a number of things contribute to the backlog relating to the criminal justice system generally, adding the point that there are a number of components involved in the criminal justice system and a number of stakeholders.

“It involves the police. It involves the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions. It involves the Public Defender’s Office. It involves obviously the private defence bar who represent accused persons on the criminal side and, of course, it involves the various government agencies, which provide forensic evidence, DNA evidence and evidence from pathologists with regard to criminal cases.

“And so all of these matters have to be looked into because it is taking a very long time to get the evidence ready. In many cases, it takes between 18 and 24 months to get this evidence and so consequently all of these issues have to be addressed if we’re going to be able to reduce the timeline it takes to deal with cases.”