Government is taking steps to improve the dispensation of justice in Dominica particularly through the Magistrates Courts.
At a press conference on Friday, May 9th, Hon Minister for Justice, Rayburn Blackmoore indicated that insufficient staff consistently leads to a backlog of matters at the courts. He added that difficulty securing and retraining legal personnel compounds the challenge.
The Minister says that in response to a call from the private sector to speed up matters at the courts, Cabinet took the following decisions earlier this month.
He listed, “appointment of two qualified magistrates one contract and one of those magistrates will deal specifically with civil matters;
“appointment of one lay magistrate on contract to deal specifically with uncontested traffic matters, Litter Act offences and offences related to the environment and rent and liquor licenses;
“deployment of existing qualified magistrates to provide for one magistrate to deal specifically with juvenile and family matters, and the appointment of two additional clerical staff members.”
A new position of Court Administrator has also been created.
The Hon Prime Minister, Dr Roosevelt Skerrit has commended the work of the Ministry of Justice, Immigration and National Security in facilitating these new appointments.
However, the Hon Prime Minister indicated that legal professionals also have a responsibility to improve the system.
He said, “While we are inputting the resources and additional court, that in itself will not solve the problem if the court officers are not as diligent as they ought to be. Our hope is that all of the officers of the court, contrary to what people say, perceive and think, we, the executive do not get involved in the court system at all.”
These new appointments will cost Government about $300,000 annually.
Meantime, Cabinet, on the advice of the Ministry of Justice, has also approved a new position within the Police Force.
“At our last meeting of Cabinet, May 3rd, 2016, Cabinet approved the creation of a new position- Assistant Chief of Police effective July 1st, 2016. This is another measure to make this country one of the safest and most secure destinations in the region.”
The Hon Minister says this new position is to improve operations within the police force as it tries to keep up with the increasing complexity of crime on the island.
This new appointment is also in keeping with a decision to standardize police forces within the region.
