[UPDATED] Judge-alone trials take two-thirds less time

Appeal Court judge Charmaine Pemberton said the six judge-alone trials since the passage of legislation in January 2019 took one third as long as cases determined by a jury.

She was speaking on Wednesday at the opening of a two-day workshop on judge-alone (trier of fact) trials at the Hyatt Regency, Port of Spain.

She spoke on behalf of Chief Justice Ivor Archie, and said he was absent because he was at a funeral in Tobago. She said Archie was scheduled to return to Trinidad on Wednesday evening and would be at the second day of the workshop.

“Our Chief Justice has stated repeatedly in his addresses...that in order for strides to be made in the administration of criminal justice, there must be process reform in the criminal justice sector.”

Pemberton noted the Chief Justice was an early advocate for the abolition of trials by jury and he considered the workshop highly relevant in ensuring that judicial officers are properly equipped to deal with matters on which they adjudicate.

In the six judge-alone trials, of people charged with offences such as murder, manslaughter, rape and larceny, the conviction rate was 50 per cent. She said in addition to the benefit of the reduction in the length of trials, there is accountability and transparency in the judge-alone process. She explained that whereas in jury trials, jurors are not required to give explanations for accepting or rejecting evidence or to justify their verdicts, in judge-alone trials, that burden falls on the judge.

“The judge is therefore required to give comprehensive reasons for his or her decision. Welcome to the civil world.”

She said judge-alone trials can boost public trust and confidence in the administration of criminal justice, because decisions made by judicial officers are not arbitrary and are subject to the scrutiny of appellate courts.

Attorney General Faris Al-Rawirecalled when he piloted the trial-by-judge legislation in Parliament, a disbelieving Opposition told him no one in their right mind would go before that system for murder. He pointed out that to his right was Justice Gillian Lucky, who has done two judge-only murder trials, one an acquittal and one a conviction.

“What does jurisprudence look like with the written judgements of Madam Justice Lucky as it relates to murder? Aren’t we by far better able now to inspect and advance our law with the benefit of decisions that are put in writing and are subject to appeal?”

He said he was in a better position to approach the Parliament to introduce trial by judge alone in a different way, though he could not give more details at this point. He added this will be done after the abolition of preliminary enquiries, which he hoped would be done this month.

Lucky praised Al-Rawi as she introduced him. She said the Chief Justice indicated very early that the only way the Judiciary would be able to move forward in reducing the backlog in the criminal courts was if it recognised the need for process reform.

“It wasn’t simply about more courts and more judicial officers...but it was really about looking at the process across the criminal-law landscape, determining where there were deficiencies and then, when the process is fixed, it is easy to determine what has to be done.

And I think that comes from the Chief Justice being an engineer first – it is about fixing the system.

“And in that regard, honourable Attorney General, you have carried your part of the portfolio in terms of putting in the legislative arm that very aggressive, and might I say assertive, suite of legislation that didn’t operate in silos but really moved in tandem.”

There were representatives at the workshop from Barbados, Belize, the Cayman Islands, Guyana, Nevis, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Montserrat, St Kitts, Dominica, Grenada, British Virgin Islands, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines and Turks and Caicos Islands.

This story has been adjusted to include additional details. See original post below.

Appeal Court judge Charmaine Pemberton said the six judge-alone trials since the passage of legislation in January 2019 took one third as long as cases determined by a jury.

She was speaking on Wednesday at the opening of a two-day workshop on judge alone (trier of fact) trials at the Hyatt Regency, Port of Spain.

She spoke on behalf of Chief Justice Ivor Archie, and said he was absent because he was at a funeral in Tobago. She said Archie was scheduled to return to Trinidad on Wednesday evening and would be at the second day of the workshop.

"Our Chief Justice has stated repeatedly in his addresses...that in order for strides to be made in the administration of criminal justice, there must be process reform in the criminal justice sector."

Pemberton noted the Chief Justice was an early advocate for the abolition of trials by jury and he considered the workshop highly relevant in ensuring that judicial officers are properly equipped to deal with matters on which they adjudicate.

In the six judge-alone trials, of people charged with offences such as murder, manslaughter, rape and larceny, the conviction rate was 50 per cent. She said in addition to the benefit of the reduction in the length of trials, there is accountability and transparency in the judge-alone process. She explained that whereas in jury trials, jurors are not required to give explanations for accepting or rejecting evidence or to justify their verdicts, in judge-alone trials, that burden falls on the judge.

"The judge is therefore required to give comprehensive reasons for his or her decision. Welcome to the civil world."

She said judge-alone trials can boost public trust and confidence in the administration of criminal justice, because decisions made by judicial officers are not arbitrary and are subject to the scrutiny of appellate courts.