Two low-hanging fruits that the AG can deliver

As a former employee of Precision Woodworking Limited (the Company) and one who has attended many of the court hearings in the action brought by the Company against Republic Bank, I wish to add my bit to the comments of my former workplace colleague,

Eustace Marshall, which were carried in your 13th October edition.

Specifically, and regarding Attorney General, Anil Nandlall’s announcement of the government’s intention to give the nation a cutting-edge legal system to support its development, there are two low-hanging fruits that the

AG can deliver in the meantime to assist in this quest. These are, one, to restore the computerized File Management System and secondly, the Voice Recording System, which I believe has been inoperable since late 2019. The former provides printouts of case fly sheets and the latter printed transcripts of court hearings, as opposed to having handwritten fly sheets and labourious manual notes made by Judges and court staff. I am told that in Trinidad, for example, printed transcripts of hearings are available at the end of the day.

What currently obtains is primitive and needs urgent remedying if we are serious about improving the administration of justice. Relying on manually recorded events and court proceedings in the 21st century is unacceptable, and it is surprising that the Bar Association is not vocal about this state of affair. The above does not have to await the transformative legislative agenda the AG has announced but rather would support the cutting-edge system envisaged.

Sincerely, Eon Walker