Attorney General Allyson Maynard-Gibson reading the lesson at the service to mark the opening of the Grand Bahama legal year on Friday at the Pro-Cathedral of Christ the King Parish in Freeport. Photo: Vandyke Hepburn/BIS
By DENISE MAYCOCK
Tribune Freeport Reporter
dmaycock@tribunemedia.net
AGREEING that the legal system in the Bahamas has been broken for a long time, Attorney General Allyson Maynard-Gibson pledged on Friday that efforts are being made to fix it.
After hearing Archdeacon Harry Bain declare in his sermon at the annual church service at Pro-Cathedral of Christ the King to mark the opening of the legal year in Grand Bahama, Mrs Maynard-Gibson said that such a declaration coming from the church and such a venerable figure is important.
“What we are all pursuing is the concept of justice, and justice is a spiritual concept. We all agree that things need to be fixed which is why we have been working so hard on fixing the system, which actually for quite some time has been broken,” she said. “What is important for us as Bahamians is to confront that reality and do what it takes to fix it. I have already spoken about the hardworking team of the Office of the Attorney General who have already made a difference, and I have already spoken about the commitment of the judiciary and the reality is that they sit 24/7 ready to hear matters.”
The Attorney General noted that there is also a deeper reality that trials cannot be heard unless citizens are prepared to be jurors and witnesses. She stressed that this year they will spend a lot of time explaining to citizens the issues of witness anonymity, witness protection and other things that affect the rights of citizens to encourage them to come forward and do their civic duty.
In relation to juries, jurors and jury duty, she stated that the law has changed to make it easier to be a juror. One of the changes she said is that if a person is called to juror duty and served for two months, they will not be called for three years. “I think that is a pretty good deal. This is a small country and we know each other; we can fix what is broken for the benefit of each and every citizen in our borders.”
She said the backlog of cases is being addressed. With the help of partners such as the Commonwealth Secretariat, Inter-American Development Bank and the US State Courts, she said that people brought from those jurisdictions have shown them what they did.
She also stated that the Attorney General’s office has assigned a special team to address the backlog. Additionally, the judicial defence bar has established a committee to address the backlog, resulting this year in 109 delayed cases being dealt with. She said they now also have all backlog matters catalogued.
“It is extremely significant that we can monitor and track them and say precisely where each one is in the system,” Mrs Maynard-Gibson said.
Comments
themessenger 8 years, 4 months ago
Stupid woman, doesn't she realize that witnesses have been getting assassinated for the last couple of years and, understandably are very hesitant to testify, and the juries are drawn for the most part from people who consider it a vacation rather than a duty. Any juror chosen with a modicum of intelligence, more so if they're white, are immediately challenged off by the slick well connected lawyers that seemingly hold more sway than the presiding Justice. Perhaps she'll get on board with the Chief Justices suggestion that the court backlog could be reduced by use of Noli Prosequi, something she is no doubt familiar with and a panel of Judges in some matters rather than a jury of our "peers".
stislez 8 years, 4 months ago
Dese black judges be looking stupid in white people hair Jed, I wunda why they still wear those symbols of white supremacy. All that shows is someone still being dictated to, independent my ass!
bandit 8 years, 4 months ago
I say the same thing all the time. Can someone please answer that question. That stupid wig on these black people head. SMFH
kaytaz 8 years, 4 months ago
Stupid!!!!!!! Why are still wearing these colonial head read. Just plain stupid
asiseeit 8 years, 4 months ago
You want to fix our legal system, please rescind INDEPENDENCE and let the British run the country. That was the last time we had anything close to LAW AND ORDER. Face it Bahamians are not capable of being honest, moral, or ethical in leadership positions. We have devolved and gone backward from the first day of independence as our supposed leaders are TOTAL FAILURES!
Cobalt 8 years, 4 months ago
You're right! Bahamian morale and ethics are at an all time low in this country. We have become a dishonest, corrupt minded, people lacking integrity.
GrassRoot 8 years, 4 months ago
I can tell she works tirelessly.... she sweats. I would like to see pictures with her lounging in EVA AIR business class flying to kiss the Chinese Emperors' feet.
TruePeople 8 years, 4 months ago
I know right! This fool talk from the woman who knowingly engages in conflict of interested business agreements, and then turns around and lies to us about it when she's caught red handed. And you know somehow, they gone blame the people. The problems with the justice system obviously lie with the jurors........ It always got to be the people of the bahamas who are the problem........ not the gov't, or the judiciary, or the lawmen, or the lawmakers, or somebody's 'good son'......
No it's always the people fault.... right?!
Well_mudda_take_sic 8 years, 4 months ago
Allyson Maynard-Gibson (the Wicked Witch) and the likes of her, including Sean McWeeny, Snake and many others like them, are the fundamental reason why honest hardworking Bahamians cannot make ends meet for their families today and live in constant fear of crime.
truetruebahamian 8 years, 4 months ago
stislez and kaytaz appear to not understand anything but their small minded and racist views. Sad that they cannot appreciate an honourable presentation of the position that they hold. Perhape they want the justices to wear 'junkanoo' or 'carnival' apparel.
TruePeople 8 years, 4 months ago
Ya know what true true Bahamian... those wigs there prob were part of some kind of English Junkanoo thing from long back. When that thing did come into fashion it was a fashion piece.... they wore it because they liked the look.
There is no reason why we as Bahamians should wear it JUST BECAUSE the English wore it..... There would be nothing wrong with her wearing a junkanoo style headdress if that was designated as formal ware for the Judiciary. The way these people dress is all about customs and culture.... Personally i'd prefer to see the lawyers and judges wearing something not only culturally relevant to us as Bahamaian People, but wearing something that matches the times.
Canadian Judges don't wear wigs anymore.... they've updated their legal uniform because they recognized these wigs as archaic and outdated. Our legal class continues to wear it because they still idealize the colonial masters. It's not a matter of colour, it's a matter of status, and it is reflective i believe of the legal class in this country not only believing themselves to be better than us, but wishing to illustrate that fact through the manner of dressing (they have donned the clothes of the slave masters and having tasted the power they do not want to remove those garments!!!!!)
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