The Tribune

 By EARYEL BOWLEG

Tribune Staff Reporter

ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

PROGRESSIVE Liberal Party chairman Fred Mitchell has accused Bahamas Bar Association president Khalil Parker of adopting “FNM talking points” over power cuts at the courts, suggesting he was more interested in generating headlines than first taking the issue to the Chief Justice.

Mr Mitchell also turned the question of delayed justice back on the legal profession, accusing lawyers of routinely stalling and deferring cases as a legal tactic and questioning why the Bar president was not speaking as forcefully about those delays.

His comments follow public commentary over persistent electricity disruptions at the Supreme Court, with the Bar Association calling for a clear, credible and time-bound plan to address them and Attorney General Wayne Munroe insisting the Court Services Council must mitigate outages just as hospitals, prisons and businesses do.

The Bar subsequently said Mr Munroe’s response failed to explain what was being done to resolve the problem in the medium and long term.

Mr Mitchell said Mr Parker’s intervention produced “predictable headlines of doom and gloom” about justice being denied because of the outages.

“Mr Parker is another in a long list of those who’ve adopted what I call FNM talking points to deal with the issue of power cuts,” Mr Mitchell said, “and so far none of the condemnations has moved the needle to solve the problem of power cuts.”

“The professionals have to do that,” he said, “but the braying at the moon continues.”

Mr Mitchell said lawyers should act rationally and on evidence, but claimed “rationality in this case has gone out of the window”.

He also questioned whether Mr Parker had adequately considered the administrative structure governing the courts before publicly criticising the Davis administration.

Mr Mitchell said it appeared the Bar president did not know the courts are an autonomous body responsible for “its own capex”, and argued that his first approach should have been to the Chief Justice rather than the media.

“That means to most studied observers the first port of call for any president of the Bar Council is not The Tribune, The Nassau Guardian or Eyewitness News,” Mr Mitchell said, “but rather a call to the chair of that entity that governs and manages the courts, the Chief Justice, and ask, ‘What’s going on here, and can we help in any way?’”

He then suggested publicity and politics had influenced Mr Parker’s approach.

“Presumably, he has the Chief Justice's contact number,” Mr Mitchell said, “but you know, a headline and a picture in the newspaper is better for one's profile, and it helps when you add to the FNM's talking points to pile it on that will help them win the next general election.”

Mr Mitchell also defended Mr Munroe, saying the Attorney General “does not suffer fools gladly and is quick to dispatch nonsense”.

“Of course, the bar president has met his match in Wayne Munroe, the new Attorney General,” Mr Mitchell said, “who does not suffer fools gladly and is quick to dispatch nonsense.”

Mr Mitchell acknowledged that power cuts had disrupted court proceedings and said that was bad, but argued they were not the only source of delay in the justice system.

“Let us be clear: the issue of justice delayed, the power cuts may well have inconvenienced the parties, and that's bad,” he said. “We agree it's not good, but in the scheme of things, what about the countless cases in the system where lawyers practice routinely stall, delay, and defer as a legal tactic?”

“Justice is denied there,” Mr Mitchell said. “What is the president of the bar council to say about that?”

He nevertheless said resources must be provided promptly to ensure the courts operate effectively.

“Let us also be clear: the resources must be provided on a timely basis to ensure that the courts run effectively,” Mr Mitchell said, “and it is sometimes sad to see foreign states having to devote or donate equipment and monies to public bodies that we can easily get ourselves.”

Mr Mitchell said lawyers, particularly the Bar president, occupy a special position in society and should use it to advocate for justice rather than pursue what he described as political “gotcha moments”.

He conceded that Mr Parker may not have intended his remarks to be political, but said that in the country’s polarised political environment “it is arguably a distinction without a difference”.

The Bar Association has maintained that asking the Court Services Council to lessen the effects of outages does not address the underlying problem.

“What remains in question,” the association said, “is what the relevant authorities and utility providers, those actually responsible for delivering a stable and consistent supply of electricity, intend to do, and by when.”

The Bar said the public already knew about the country’s electricity problems and wanted solutions rather than further descriptions of them.

“We are looking for clearly articulated and credible solutions,” it said.

The association said Mr Munroe had an opportunity to explain what engagement was taking place among the responsible authorities, utility providers and the Judiciary and what concrete measures were being considered to prevent the disruptions from continuing.

Mr Munroe, however, defended his position and questioned what more the Court Services Council could reasonably be expected to do beyond mitigating the effects of power failures.