The Tribune

By LETRE SWEETING

Tribune Staff Reporter

lsweeting@tribunemedia.net

THE House of Assembly passed a group of bills to improve the judicial system.

The bills would provide better remuneration and pension for judges and increase the number of judges from 20 to 25.

A court services council independent of the executive would be established, devolving power away from the central government. Legislators argued the bills would improve operations and working conditions at all court levels.

The bills include amendments to the Supreme Court Act, the Judges Remuneration and Pensions Act, the Magistrates Act, the Coroners Act, and the Court of Appeal Act. The Court Services Bill was also passed.

The court services council would oversee administration and court services for the courts, appointing support staff, remitting payments and pensions to judicial officers and managing the council’s real and personal property investments.

The goal, Housing and Urban Renewal Minister Keith Bell said, is ensuring there is no interference or appearance of interference from the executive in court operations.

“Hardly a week goes by without some form of criticism being levied at the judicial processes in this country,” he said.

“Today, for the first time in our history, a Bahamian government is moving to essentially sever executive control over court facilities and management. Currently, the government is responsible for the upkeep of court premises and other support services. However, this has led to many challenging scenarios making the court appear dependent on the executive and legislative government.”

The council will be responsible for monitoring the Court of Appeal, the Supreme Court, the Coroners Court and the Magistrates Court.

Mr Bell said increasing the number of judges will better support judicial officers.

“On the civil side, we have seen a number of landmark divorce cases and complex civil cases,” he said. “So these cases require more and more judicial time and has resulted in unacceptable delays. I am advised that trial dates before the Supreme Court are more than 12 months away. As a matter of fact, there’s one that’s been given in 2025. That means that justices have no available dates next year.

“On the criminal side, serious offences are tried before the Supreme Court for decades. Both governments have recognized that the time required for matters to be determined by our criminal court is far too long. These delays have led to suspects being granted bail and the consequential cries from citizens against bail while ignoring the underlying issues which are associated with bail.

“Criminal cases must be tried in a more timely manner, or suspects will be entitled to bail. The only way to reduce the number of persons on bail is to increase the number of trials and convictions.”

The proposed Judges’ Remuneration and Pensions Amendment Bill 2023 would facilitate repayment or payment of pension and gratuity on qualified holders of judicial offices.

“The reality is, the salaries paid to our judicial officers do not correspond to requirements of the office, and successive governments have relied on appealing to the desire of persons to serve in order to fill appointments,” Mr Bell said. “While this strategy has been somewhat successful, it cannot be recommended for significant financial sacrifice to be a prerequisite to serve one’s country as a judicial officer.”