Government continues to put necessary mechanisms in place to reduce the backlog of cases in the court system.
Attorney General Dale Marshall said Government had tried, with the available financial resources, to give the judiciary what it needed, in an effort to bring down the backlog.
He noted that this included increasing the judiciary and judicial assistants, and making available the necessary technological resources.
Mr. Marshall made the comments today in response to a question from the media, after the swearing in of the new Chief Justice Leslie Haynes, at State House.
He stated: “Certainly, in relation to the criminal backlog, we’ve seen tremendous results in that regard. In relation to the civil side of things, though, I think we now all have to redouble our efforts to make sure that we can get that done.
“The Chief Justice will now have to determine what kind of resources he needs. But I can tell you that, for example, in the area of court transcription, we’ve just hired an additional 10 or 12 people to be able to take the verbatim evidence. They are undergoing special training now, and that training is expected to be completed by September, so that at the start of the new court year, they will be in place. So, the backlog is huge, but it is not beyond us.”
Attorney General Marshall disclosed that an increasing number of cases were being filed against the state, alleging a breach of constitutional rights on the basis that justice had been delayed.
“It’s an undeniable right and it’s also an undeniable truth. We can’t keep paying compensation to litigants who make those claims, while at the same time funding the judicial system as is needed.
“What we would expect is that the more we fund the judicial system that the fewer of those things we should get, in fact, it’s been the reverse,” he stated.