South lawyers welcome promise of new court

THE Assembly of Southern Lawyers (ASL) has welcomed the decision to relocate the San Fernando magistrates’ court.

President of the association Michael Rooplal said the closure of the court since 2017, originally to remove asbestos from the roof, has led to major delays in the administration of justice as courtrooms are being shared with the San Fernando High Court.

“Courts are sitting later and there is a cutoff time now for charge cases to come. Although the (magistrates’) courts are open from 2 pm to 5 pm, I believe the clerk of the peace stops taking documents from police officers at 3 pm.

“What this means therefore, is that persons who may have been brought after that time to face a magistrate are being deprived effectively of their rights to be brought before a court as soon as possible after being charged.”

Rooplal said although the association was not consulted on the proposed demolition of the old court building, a new one would improve the efficiency of the system.

“While the (old) building itself is a historical landmark, it lacked a lot of things you can expect of a magistrates’ court in this technological age. It was certainly lacking behind most of the newer buildings where you have the technology in place for audio recording and video conferencing.

“The only inconvenience I see is that the proposed new site is a bit way off from the centre where we are accustomed practicing. Once there is adequate parking and modern facilities, southern practitioners would go for it.”

Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi told the Newsday recently that the building was recommended for demolition because of structural damage caused by the 6.9 magnitude earthquake in August last year.

He said a new court will be built on the site where the old Water and Sewerage Authority building once stood at the corner of Sutton Street and Irving Park.

That parcel of land was vested in the AG’s office and subsequently handed over to the judiciary.

On April 26, the assembly wrote to Chief Justice Ivor Archie saying, as key stakeholders the association should have been consulted on the plans for the old building. The ASL requested a meeting with the CJ who is yet to respond.

“The first time I found out the building was going to be demolished was through the media. There was no consultation with us, and I have written to the CJ indicating dissatisfaction with that.”

Al-Rawi said tenders are out for the project so it can be done as quickly as possible.

“The first step was vesting, getting Cabinet approval and now we have to raise the financing and commence the project. The Judiciary has done advance planning and we are pushing that with alacrity,” Al-Rawi said.