EDITOR, The Tribune.
Please permit me to highlight an issue within this country.
This country of ours is falling apart in every aspect we can imagine. Every little thing adds to the complexity of fixing this little nation to make it into a better nation.
My reason for taking this forum is to highlight the joke that is the magistrate’s court with regards to civil matters. If you bring a suit to court which is capped at $5,000.00, as the plaintiff if you miss a court date it is thrown out automatically.
However, the defendant is allowed at least two missed court dates without any penalty. If they fail to attend the third a bench warrant is issued.
Let’s assume they attend at least one date to avoid a bench warrant, then if the magistrate issues a judgement for them to pay and they don’t pay, then the court asks the plaintiff, “What do you want to do?” This is totally ridiculous. If someone has disobeyed the courts, take action.
There are cases where warrants have been issued in civil cases that are pending for quite some time.
It’s as if the court has no intention of seeing these defendants, who have no respect for the judicial system, being shown that the court is actually serious about the law.
If you contact the courts to follow-up, you’re not guaranteed the phone will be answered. It’s like the system is designed to frustrate the plaintiff and allow the defendants to be left alone.
Keep in mind this is the civil side, which should be easier to manage. So imagine the criminal side. This country continues to operate like a banana republic and we wonder why the world doesn’t take us seriously.
FRUSTRATED CITIZEN
Nassau,
June 25, 2023.
Comments
trueBahamian 10 months, 3 weeks ago
It's unreal in this place. Someone told me that a magistrate asked them (the plaintiff) if they could find an officer to execute the warrant on the defendant. I was stunned to hear that. So you bring a case to the courts, so you're not handling it like some thug on the street and then the courts are telling you, do our job and go look for a police officer to execute a warrant.
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