‘Undesirable’
Judges deliver in 27 per cent of cases where decision was reserved over 15-month period
BETWEEN JANUARY last year and the first quarter of this year, Supreme Court judges have handed down their decision in 27 per cent of the cases in which they reserved judgment, figures obtained by
The Gleaner have revealed.
BETWEEN JANUARY last year and the first quarter of this year, Supreme Court judges handed down their decision in 27 per cent of the cases in which they reserved judgment, figures obtained by The
Gleaner have revealed.
Over the 15-month period, the figures show judgments were reserved in a total of 148 cases that were argued before the Supreme Court.
“Of this number, 40, or 27 per cent, were delivered, leaving 108 outstanding,” said the Court Management Services (CMS), which compiled the figures.
CMS revealed, too, that the judgments reserved and delivered over the period came in cases that were presided over by 29 current High Court judges.
“That’s crazy! I’m shocked to hear this,” one senior attorney said in reacting yesterday.
Justice Minister Delroy Chuck described it as “undesirable”, but stopped short of criticising the judges.
“For them to be waiting in excess of six months is not only undesirable, but almost inflicts greater disappointment and pain on these litigants,” he told The Gleaner.
“Before their cases are tried, they might have been waiting three to five years. So once the cases are tried, they expect a result soon after,” he added.
CMS revealed that between January 1 last year and March 31 this year, a total of 130 judgments have been delivered. According to the agency, this included 90 that were reserved before January last year.
However, CMS could not indicate the total number of cases in which judgments have been outstanding for two years and more. Further, the agency could not indicate the number of judgments outstanding from retired judges.