Judiciary changes trouble Gobin

Jada Loutoo

HIGH Court judge, Justice Carol Gobin is expressing her concerns about the proposed re-organisation of the Judiciary, and the future of her staff and their job security.

Gobin, in a letter to court executive administrator Master Christie Ann Morris-Alleyne, on Friday, said she recently became aware of the proposed re-organisation as part of the Judiciary’s Criminal Justice Reform project.

She also said she saw the Judiciary’s statement on the issue and the statements of Public Services Association president Watson Duke on how the restructuring would affect staff.

Gobin said judges had, so far, not been consulted as a group on the impact, if any, the proposed changes would have on judges’ support staff and their own operations.

“I speak for my team members when I say that they are extremely concerned about their future with the Judiciary as well as their individual job security.

“For my part, in the absence of full information, I am becoming concerned as well about the situation and any potential impact on my team,” Gobin said in her letter.

She said since her appointment 15 years ago, she was fortunate to have “competent, hard-working and extremely loyal” support staff, and the introduction of the criminal procedure rules in 2005 brought with it a new level of inter-dependence between judges and their support staff.

“Team building was encouraged because it was recognised that it was fundamental to the success of Civil Justice Reform that a judge had staff upon whom she or he could rely to do all of the things that make for efficient delivery of justice, outside of the pure business of judging. “The positive contribution of my staff to my efficiency and the proper discharge of my judicial duties cannot be overstated,” Gobin said.

She noted that staff were trained over the years to upgrade their specialised skills, and only recently her team attended training sessions on digital court recording systems.

“I am, therefore, asking this basic question, will civil judges teams be affected by the proposed re-organisation and, if yes, has the impact on all Civil Justice Reform gains for the past 14 years been considered. “I wish to invite you to meet urgently with me and my team to discuss the matter. The lack of information or detail and uncertainty is causing us all a great deal of worry. My staff are extremely despondent and fearful about the future. I do believe some clarity as to what we can expect and some assurances that civil judges teams will not be adversely affected by Criminal Justice Reform re-organisation, will go a long way to allaying our concerns.”

She also sent her letter to the registrar of the Supreme Court, her staff and all civil judges, advising Morris-Alleyne she might consider meeting with judges as a group.

In her letter, Gobin also attached a statement identifying her support staff and a short statement by each of them.

All four of them, including her judicial support officer, judicial secretary, orderly and case management officer all said they had been told nothing, to date, of any transition or how it would affect their posts.

On Monday, Duke called on judges to join in the daily protest action in support of their staff.

Every day this week, the staff at the Judiciary have held morning-prayer sessions on the steps of the Hall of Justice in Port of Spain and at the various courthouses in TT.

They are protesting the proposed restructuring plans, which they say will result in them being fired and contract workers taking their positions. Last week, they held a two-day “justice holiday” protest, staying away from their jobs.

On Monday, staff from the various court districts intend to gather on the steps of the Hall of Justice.

The Judiciary has said it was re-organising each district court for improved efficiency and productivity, and no one is being carded for termination.

In a recent television interview, Morris-Alleyne said the changes are the result of the combination of new legislation and initiatives to reduce the backlog of cases in the system.