The Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court opened Law Year 2020 on Monday, January 13, with the usual church services in the nine jurisdictions (including Anguilla); a Guard of Honour; a video-link address by the Chief Justice, Madam Janice Pereira, from the Antigua and Barbuda Circuit; and a Special Sitting there.
In Anguilla, the Guard of Honour was formed by a contingent of the Royal Anguilla Police Force, and the inspection was performed by the Resident Judge, Justice Shawn Innocent – his first such event since his appointment to the island.
In her telecast, the Chief Justice said in part: “We are gathered here, in the month of January, and not September, as has been the tradition throughout the existence of this Court. The last time I addressed you was in September 2018 from the twin-island State of St. Kitts-Nevis. The Court has broken its tradition out of practicality. As you know, from experience, the month of September happens to be the peak of the hurricane season and the increasing frequency and intensity of hurricanes, and other adversarial systems affecting our region, can’t be denied. In 2017 the ceremonial opening of the Law Year was cancelled as the State of Dominica was ravaged by Hurricane Maria – a mere two weeks after, Antigua’s sister island of Barbuda, and the territories of Anguilla and the Virgin Islands, were devastated by Hurricane Irma.
“Last year, as I and the other Justices of Appeal were preparing to join the OECS Bar Association, at the regional law conference in St. Kitts and Nevis, ahead of the ceremonial opening of the Law Year there, Tropical Storm Isaac threatened to disrupt plans. It caused a logistical nightmare for the conference organisers and the staff of the St. Kitts High Court.”
In addressing the need for Court excellence, the Chief Justice advised: “For one thing, advancements in technology are taking place at a rapid pace, and people expect processes to be completed in a much shorter timeframe than we envisaged at the start of the last decade. This Court must therefore improve its processes and procedures, where necessary, and implement new measures to ensure that it continues to fulfil its mission in line with this vision. The theme of the opening of this year is: ‘A New Era for the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court: The Role to Achieving Court Excellence.’ As the Eastern Caribbean Court enters this year and, indeed, this new decade, we are moving forward. We are moving towards Court excellence. Excellence is not a destination in itself – but is a continued process of evaluation to ensure we meet and exceed the requirements of the people who we serve.”
Madam Justice Pereira spoke about the need for the Court to be more proactive in seeking new initiatives to improve the administration of justice for the people of the Eastern Caribbean; steps taken by the Court to become a modern, accessible, efficient and resilient judiciary; the use of technology to advance access to justice by the introduction of electronic filing; the introduction of the Court’s e-litigation portal – a platform providing for the electronic filing of court documents; and electronic case management and documental flow. The e-litigation portal has the benefit of allowing legal practitioners to file legal documents anywhere – and on any device with internet access.
The Chief Justice spoke about the launch, on January 21, 2019, of a model sexual offences court in Antigua and Barbuda as a special project with a key initiative for the development of model guidelines for handling complaints of sexual assault – including cases involving children. The hope is that this model court can be replicated in other member states and territories in the coming year. She also spoke about the implementation of digital court technology in Dominica with the intention of introducing it in the other jurisdictions later on. Among other matters, the Chief Justice called for more attention to the need for court-connected mediation to help to avert a backlog of cases and with the swift dispensing of justice. She also spoke of the need for Governments to provide support to the Court in terms of financial contributions.
Following the Chief Justice’s lengthy address, Attorney General, Mr. Dwight Horsford, touched on her remarks about Court excellence. He told the Court: “As we consider those remarks on the Road to Excellence, we must recognise our roles as judges, lawyers, officers of the Court and officers in service to the Court in the effort to achieve the excellence about which Her Ladyship spoke. The greatest resource, in my opinion, that the Court has, in its effort to achieve that excellence, is the human resource.”
He continued: “The many developments we have had in the use of modern technological instrumentalities in the Court – in the service of the administration of justice – are noble achievements. But there were days when the Court was not so equipped and managed to set a legendary agenda even for courts in the other parts of the region to follow.” He suggested that as the Court looked forward to achieving excellence, it should also look back at what were the highest traditions of the noble legal profession such as honesty; integrity; mutuality of respect between the Bar and the Bench; support for each other; apprenticeship of junior lawyers to senior lawyers; dedication to good quality work; ready assistance to the Court; pro bona service; scholarship and researching pursuits, among others.
The Attorney General added: “Anguilla is a unique jurisdiction which at times raises novel and interesting legal challenges…It is also a jurisdiction with a substantial youthful Bar, and it is important that the noble traditions of the profession …are passed on and adhered to.”
Mr. Thomas Astaphan, QC, referring to a statement made by the Chief Justice, stated: “I am proud that in all the over 30 years I have been in Anguilla, to acknowledge that Anguilla’s Governments have never been among those that were out of favour in terms of the payments of their commitments to the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court. Anguilla has always been constantly on time in meeting its commitments. I think that needs to be said.”
He spoke on the development of the Anguilla Bar – saying it was “up there with the major Bars of Antigua, St. Lucia and Grenada” but he continued: “On behalf of the lawyers and my colleagues, I wish to ask for the umpteen time that we be provided with access to the Internet in Court. We suffer because when we come to Court we do not have Internet access. All of the laws are on the Government’s website and we could easily access them. They are not only on the Government’s website, but the Eastern Caribbean Court’s website and that of the Privy Council – everything is available if only we had Internet access in the Court. In the presence of the Government and the Registrar, I am asking please allow the lawyers to join the WiFi in the Court.”
The Vice President of the Anguilla Bar Association, Mrs. Keesha Carty, took the opportunity to welcome Justice Shawn Innocent to the Bench on his first attendance of the opening of the Law Year. “We have had a taste, as it were, of the kind of service you will render, the demands you will make of us as officers of the Court and servants of the people, and the measure of justice you will dispense from the Bench,” she stated.
Among other things, she told Justice Innocent: “Your work ethic and expectation of excellence are indeed propellers of this new era of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court. The system has come so far – all for the sake of prioritising litigants, their access to and the dispensation of justice. E-litigation is another step on the ladder of Court excellence. Previous steps were the Civil Procedure Rules and amendments thereto – as well as Court-connected mediation and, most recently, family-connected mediation.”
Senior Magistrate, Ms. Ivenia Benjamin, also joined in welcoming Justice Innocent to the Bench and to Anguilla. In speaking in relation to judicial improvements, she cited the introduction of the e-litigation portal in the Magistrate’s Court, the computerisation of the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages and the provision of an electricity generator. The Magistrate also mentioned the appointment of new assessors for the Juvenile Court and the Rent Commission; the appointment of three Justices of the Peace for the Court; a one-day training workshop on custom service by the Department of Public Administration; and the provision of WiFi in the Court, among other improvements.
At the close of the session, Justice Innocent pointed to the need for a video screen in the High Court for occasions when there are telecasts such as those by the Chief Justice and at other events. He took issue with the projection of events and other images on the wall of the Court, behind the Judge’s Bench. He indicated that in other jurisdictions there were video screens which both enhance the communication systems and improve the Court’s proceedings.
