Law Term opens at City Hall

IN a break from tradition, the inter-faith service for today’s opening of the 2018/2019 law term will not be held at the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Port of Spain, but will instead take place at the City Hall auditorium.

The change of venue was caused by the damage that the church, on Abercromby Street, suffered during last month’s 6.9 magnitude earthquake.

Notices about the temporary traffic restrictions have already been published and Chief Justice Ivor Archie will still give his formal address at the Convocation Hall of the Hall of Justice on Knox Street.

The inter-faith service will begin at 10 am, after which Archie will lead a short procession of judicial officers, lawyers and other dignitaries to the Hall of Justice, where he will inspect the Guard of Honour before giving his speech.

Also expected to be in attendance for the ceremonial opening is President Paula-Mae Weekes, a retired appellate court judge.

The focus will be on Archie following his loss in the courts in his legal battle against the Law Association (LATT).

At last year’s opening of the 2017/2018 law term, a call for a boycott of the event flopped and Archie shied away from the controversy that year. There has been no indication that a similar action is planned.

It awaits to be seen if he will chose to confront this year’s controversy, which led to his taking the LATT to court over its investigation of his conduct.

Instead, he is expected to highlight the Judiciary’s achievements, which include the opening of the Children’s Courts, the new payment system and various initiatives to clear the backlog of criminal cases. As he declares the new law term open, Archie is faced with several challenges of the Judiciary’s aging infrastructure, staffing constraints, which includes judges, financial constraints as well as not enough courts. Only recently, the San Fernando City Corporation threatened legal action against the Judiciary for failing to complete roof repairs on the San Fernando Magistrates’ Court.

In his past addresses, Archie has championed the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) becoming TT’s final appellate court and in July, he declared it a “continuing embarrassment” that TT has not made CCJ its final appellate court, even though the court is based in this country.

In his 2013/2014 speech, Archie began the ball rolling for decriminalising the consumption and possession of marijuana, which he said was a decision for policymakers.

Five years later, the Government has announced it will examine legislation on marijuana use.