Judiciary tells DPP: Don't blame us

THE Judiciary has responded to criticisms by Director of Public Prosecutions Roger Gaspard, SC, through two senior staffers.

The Judiciary shared a nine-page e-mail to Gaspard with the media on Monday.

It intimated that Chief Justice Ivor Archie personally wrote to the DPP, offering his own administrative assistance to the prosecutorial arm of the State and that of the Judiciary’s staff.

On Saturday, in a strongly-worded letter, Gaspard told the Chief Justice the insinuation that his office was partly to blame for the criminal justice system being on the verge of collapse, because his office only filed 12 indictments for 2019-2020, was “spectacularly disingenuous and misleading.”

He admitted only 12 indictments were filed – for which he apologised – but gave other reasons for the state of the criminal justice system, including the Judiciary's reneging on an agreement allowing the DPP’s office to file indictments in hard copy and not electronically.

Gaspard also listed the shortage of staff at his office and the non-appointment of criminal judges to serve in the ten assizes to deal with hundreds of cases in the system, some decades old.

In the latest volley, the Judiciary sought to absolve itself from blame, pointing out that it has committed to working with Gaspard for the benefit of the system and the country.

In their letter, acting registrar Kerri-Ann Oliverie Stuart and deputy court executive administrator (Criminal Division) Vanessa Garcia said the Judiciary had no desire to enter into a debate, but felt compelled to state the facts for the record.

They said their doors remained open and they looked forward to the DPP retooling his office’s systems to enable implementation of new legislation which would speed up trials.

They gave a timeline on the agreement to file committal bundles, pointing out his office was asked to receive bundles electronically from the Chief Magistrate, since making multiple records was financially burdensome and caused significant delay.

They also reminded Gaspard he had asked the CJ if the court would accept the bundles in the way they were sent to his office, and of a meeting in July 2019 to which he sent an assistant DPP.

The two senior Judiciary staffers said after insisting on the 30-year-practice of sending five copies of committals for capital matters and four for non-capital ones, the DPP's office finally agreed to accept electronic copies of the bundles along with one hard copy. Where electronic copies were sent to the DPP, it was agreed that indictments would be filed electronically, while those for which bundles were sent in hard copy would be filed in hard copy.

Stuart and Garcia pointed out that since August 2019, when the agreement was confirmed, only eight indictments had been filed in Port of Spain, and two in San Fernando. Two more were to be filed, one of which was a notice of discontinuance. They gave a list of the indictments filed and when they were filed.

“While there may be several factors which contributed to the low number of matters filed by you, to suggest that it is due to the Judiciary ‘reneging on an arrangement to accept, otherwise than by electronic means, the traditional filing of approximately 450 committals and related Indictments, together with transcripts’ is patently untrue,” they wrote.

They said owing to the covid19 public health regulations, several practice directions were issued. The latest was issued on Sunday and took effect on Monday. It continues to ban in-person hearings, except for domestic violence matters, and also suspended jury trials, at least until November 25. It also reinforced the filing of most court documents electronically for both the magistrates’ and High Courts.

Kiosks have been made available throughout TT for people who do not have a lawyer and cannot file their documents electronically. An appointment system was also created for those with business at the courts.

Stuart and Garcia said the court rules for June to the present were that manual filings were limited to exceptional circumstances as determined and approved by the registrar. They also said under the first set of rules, from March to June, only matters deemed fit or urgent could be filed

They said during March-June, no approach to file was made, while from June to present, Gaspard asked in July for an appointment to file one murder indictment and bundles in San Fernando. Another attempt was made to file a notice of discontinuance in Port of Spain but the indictment clerk was told the documents must be scanned and uploaded for e-filing. Gaspard was told if that had been communicated earlier, the registrar would have given approval.

The two also repeated Gaspard’s “disingenuous” retort to the CJ’s statement in his address for the new law term on October 7, and listed the indictments filed, dating back to 2009 – a total of 1,921, with the lowest number being in 2019/2020.

“Unfortunately, it is not an aberration as suggested by you but a troubling trend showing a significant reduction occurring over a three-year period from 2017-2020 which warrants an urgent review of the system,” they said.

The two said a review had started of the process in the district courts and several weak points were identified which led to the decision that committal documents should be filed electronically. They said a significant factor in the backlog of criminal cases was the time between an accused being committed and the indictment being filed.

They also pointed out that at status hearings – to determine the readiness of parties – many accused wanted to plead guilty but couldn’t because their indictments had not yet been filed.

Before covid19, status hearings were held every six-eight weeks, and it was discovered that for many of those who appeared, their indictments were not filed although depositions (evidence given in court) from the magistrates’ courts had been sent to the DPP's office over a year before,Gaspard was told.

They pointed to one case, of a man who was charged indictably for stealing $11 from a mandir in San Fernando in 2015. When his indictment was filed in April 2019, the day he was arraigned, he pleaded guilty and was sentenced.

He had appeared at several status hearings between 2016 and 2019 and Stuart and Garcia said, “This is pointed out to highlight not only the effect on people’s lives but the need for us all to acknowledge system weaknesses, review our systems and work together to reengineer our processes.”

They also spoke of the plea-bargain arrangement, mentioned by both Archie and Gaspard, telling the DPP the role of the court was not to initiate the process but ensure that the accused knew his right to enter into such discussions with the prosecution. Gaspard on Saturday faulted judges for failing to adhere to the legislation.

“It is for the office of the DPP to have a comprehensive and active approach to plea discussions which involve prosecutors, defence counsel and accused persons. The office of the DPP is the main agent in the process.

“With the active, organised and disciplined use of the various case management tools by the Office of the DPP, defence counsel and the court, the criminal backlog can be drastically reduced and we look forward to your active support in achieving this goal,” they said.

They also told Gaspard the registrar stood ready to accept the bundles for the 958 matters he wished to file and asked him to make an appointment to do so.

Stuart and Garcia also lauded the judges and other Judiciary staff for their work during the pandemic. They assured of their goodwill to the Office of the DPP as evidenced by the Judiciary’s ICT unit working with Gaspard’s team for filing electronic bundles and drafting a proposal and note to Cabinet to boost his office’s HR and ICT staff and training assistance.

“The criminal justice system is a complex one made up of many players each with its own responsibility (public and private bar, police, forensic science centre, Judiciary). You have a pivotal role to play. As you yourself have famously quipped on occasion, ‘Nothing can happen in the criminal Justice system without [you],’

“We therefore continue to open-handedly look forward to working with you to improve it for the benefit of our country,” the DPP was told.