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Officer laid to rest with full military honours
Article by June 9, 2021
Led by the country’s Head of State, a nation today bade farewell to a police officer in a solemn and dignified funeral service also attended by the Prime Minister and senior Cabinet ministers, the senior ranks of the police force and scores of family and neighbours of a close-knit St Peter community.
It was the final farewell for acting Station Sergeant Newton Carmichael Lewis. His parents Alincia Lewis and Anthony Lewis; his wife Kathy, children and other close family watched as his colleague mourners bore his remains to the graveside.
Judges at work
Article by May 11, 2021
Despite the challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic the island’s judicial system has significantly improved since the addition of judges to the Supreme Court almost two years ago.
That is the view of Attorney General Dale Marshall, who today revealed that face-to-face jury trials would be resuming soon.
In October 2019, seven new judges – one Court of Appeal judge, four High Court judges and two temporary High Court judges – were sworn in by Governor General Dame Sandra Mason.
At that time, Marshall said the appointments would help reduce the large backlog and expedite the movement of cases.
Many of the issues causing a backlog in the courts are systemic, and the Barbados Bar Association says it is time to stop pointing fingers at lawyers alone and start employing solutions.
Responding to an article published over the weekend in another section of the Press, in which Chief Justice Sir Patterson Cheltenham chastised attorneys for contributing to delays and backlogs in the system, president of the Bar, Rosalind Smith-Millar QC said there were many contributing factors to the long-running issue.
On several occasions, Barbados’ sloth system of adjudicating legal matters, has been heavily criticized by the country’s final appellate court, the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ).
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There were 70 Court of Appeal matters “lying idle”, where attorneys had filed nothing else but the notice of appeal, said Chief Justice Sir Patterson Cheltenham.
So when the public and others blame the court for the backlog, it’s actually lawyers who should be taking the blame, he added.
“On assuming office, I instructed that there be a serious dig in the Court of Appeal and that dig found 70 matters lying idle,” he revealed. “This is classic. A notice of appeal and nothing else. And we have been ferreting them out so that matters can be brought on for hearing.