Weekend Report | The Freeport News | PDF Online Guide

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Home National Sports Business Lifestyles Religion Arts & Culture Pulse Spice Editorial letters Opinion Foodie Sportscope Real Talks Weekend Report PDF's Classifieds Contact About Us Archive Weather

Letters | Opinion | Editorial | Weekend Report
FOODIE SPORTS SCOPE REAL TALKS
Sir Burton: Spread out Supreme Court creating inefficiencies By BRENT DEAN ~ Guardian Staff Reporter ~ brentldean@nasguard.com: Not being in one building is a "serious handicap" to the functioning of the Bahamian judiciary, according to outgoing Chief Justice Sir Burton Hall. "So the matter of being spread over several buildings means that it (lends) to inefficiency," said Sir Burton yesterday during an interview at his chambers. He described the government's decision to renovate the old Supreme Court complex at Bank Lane as clearly a "stop gap measure". "But the government has stated that one of the difficulties is that it is not an inexpensive exercise. Court buildings are peculiar buildings. You simply just can't put up a box and call it a court," said Sir Burton. Despite stating that a single court complex is vital to the functioning of the judiciary, due to the cost of the building, Sir Burton thinks its construction is "long ways away". The justices of the Supreme Court are scattered across downtown Nassau. Sir Burton said that the lack of a single building for the judiciary contributes to the loss of files in the Supreme Court, as these documents are moved back and forth between the registry and the various courts. He said that some in the public think that some "skullduggery" has occurred when files are lost. However, Sir Burton said that what often happens is that files are misplaced during the movement. "Files are misplaced because they have to be moved from place to place. And even within the registries of the Supreme Court there is often not sufficient space to house files," he said. Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham said on Wednesday in the House of Assembly that the government hopes that construction will begin on the upgraded Supreme Court complex no later than November. He estimated that the work would cost $6.2 million. The government is also completing the Magistrates' Court complex at Nassau Street. During the budget debate in the House, Public Works Minister Neko Grant said that this project should be finished by March 2010 at a cost of $6.4 million. Sir Burton Hall is scheduled to leave office in August. He has been nominated to become a permanent judge of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, and will replace Judge Mohamed Shahabuddeen of Guyana who recently resigned his position on the tribunal. Sir Burton, 61, was appointed as chief justice of the Supreme Court on September 4, 2001. Thursday, July 2, 2009