Duke: 'I feel enlightened'

BUOYED by a show of support by one High Court judge for Judiciary staff, Public Services Association (PSA) president Watson Duke rallied staff at today's sit-in prayer session at the Hall of Justice in Port of Spain.

Dressed in a black gown, resembling those worn by the ministers of some Christian faiths, Duke said Justice Carol Gobin’s letter to court executive administrator Master Christie Ann Morris-Alleyne on Friday, was a “step in the right direction.”

“I feel enlightened and encouraged, “Duke said.

Last week, judiciary staff held hour-long prayer sessions on mornings and yesterday’s session went on till 2 pm, with prayers said hourly. Staff from court districts throughout TT were there, all wearing white in some form. Some brought mats and sat in the shade in the entrance to the building.

Duke stayed with them for the five hours they were there.

Addressing the staff earlier in the morning, he said they prayed all last week and their prayers, which included a call for judges to support their staff, were answered.

“A judge stepped out of her comfort zone to seek a meeting. “That is not normal for a judge to do,” he said, labelling the move by Gobin as “phenomenal.”

Gobin, in her letter on Friday, expressed her concerns about the proposed re-organisation of the Judiciary, and the future of her staff and their job security.

At the magistrates’ court, scores of people received service from staff at the counter, and courts were in session, even as some note-takers and other administrative staff stood with their colleagues holding hands in prayer over at the Hall of Justice.

There was no noticeable disruption to the operations at the Supreme Court either, as a number of courts sat, including those in the appellate, civil and criminal jurisdictions.