Chief Justice Ivor Archie says that the Judiciary’s hands are tied in terms of the implementation of more programmes to facilitate restorative justice.
Speaking as a member of the audience at a panel discussion on Crime and Punishment at the NGC Bocas Lit Fest at the National Library in Port-of-Spain yesterday, Archie agreed with members of the panel that there was a need to revamp traditional methods of sentencing people convicted of crime but said that such requires public and legislative support.
He said: “It saddens me when I hear people clamouring to lock them up. That is just kicking a can down the road the people are going to come out eventually.”
Archie suggested that the Judiciary is sometimes used as a scapegoat for all problems connected with crime.
“It is very unfortunate that there is a perception that the Judiciary, which is a small component in the justice system, is responsible for or has the power to change what need to be changed.
“If it were in my power these things would have been changed a long time ago,” he said.
Archie pointed to the Judiciary’s establishment of a drug treatment court and future plans to establish mental health courts, for persons who commit crime based on mental diseases and drug addiction, as new non-traditional methods of punishment.
He also suggested that the decriminalisation but not legalisation of possession of small quantities of marijuana would assist in improving the criminal justice system.
However, he claimed that the Judiciary was being hampered by its limited budget and inability to set major policies.
“We do not set policy. We are constrained to sentence people with the confines of a legislative structure that is imposed on the Judiciary,” Archie said.
He said that this inability to provide creative means of rehabilitating convicted criminals was affecting the delivery of justice to citizens.
“I want to assure you that we are aware of your concerns. From our perspective the way the system is now is not serving the needs of the community,” Archie said.
In her address at the discussion, panellist Justice Gillian Lucky said the Judiciary has implemented several new measures to improve transparency.
“Gone are the days when judges and magistrates keep matters close to their chests. The system is less adversarial and more interactive with fairness being the overriding objective,” Lucky said.
Responding to complaints from fellow panellists Debbie Jacob, an educator who runs a literacy programme at the Port-of-Spain State Prison and criminologist Baz Dresinger over difficulties in obtaining bail, Lucky said judges were now reducing strict bail conditions in cases where more stringent monitoring is possible.
Jacob also raised issues with lengthy delays in being charged and going to trial as she noted that some of her minor students she taught at the Youth Training Centre (YTC) graduating to adult prison even before going on trial.
“From the inside looking out, it does not seem just,” Jacob said.
Dresinger claimed that international research suggested that the use of prison as a punishment fails to address increasing crime rates.
“It is not a deterrent for crime. We have to try to restore and repair not destroy,” Dresinger said.
In response, Lucky said that judges were finding creative means, within the confines of the law, to tailor sentences to cases and individual convicts by doing more in-depth analysis at the sentencing stage.
She also claimed that the recently introduced Criminal Procedure Rules has already begun to address inefficiencies in trials.
