Chief Justice: Public-sector reform needed

Renewing calls for the Judiciary's increased autonomy, Chief Justice Ivor Archie lamented on Friday that public services, including the Judiciary, were being crushed by "structural and systemic" deficiencies which require "major public-sector reform" to address.

For the first time since the pandemic began, the Judiciary commemorated the opening of the law term on Friday.

Delivering his address after the worship service, Archie acknowledged these systemic issues are not unique to the Judiciary, but extend through the public service. However, he said there are some challenges specific to that arm of the state.

For one, he said, the Judiciary continues to grapple with staff challenges. He said often, when staff are sent to the Judiciary from elsewhere in the public service, they do not have the specialised skills or training required to function in the role, for instance, clerks in the Registrar's office.

"We find that some of the clerks have been transferred from other government departments for no better reason than, apparently...it was a promotion for them in point of salary, without any regard for his fitness for that office," he said.

In other instances, he said contract employees are lost to more lucrative jobs. He added that the employment framework also does not give merit to equivalent private-sector experience which may be more in line with positions than experience in the public sector.

"If you might permit me a colloquialism, what it is we really doing?" he said. "Apart from the obvious unfairness, I am of the view this also has the potential to become a legal issue – but I would not dwell on that now."

Furthermore, he said the ideal arrangement for the Judiciary is a mix of permanent and contract employees.

"But this appears to be at odds with the philosophy embraced by some senior servants, and there has been a consistent attempt to shoehorn us into the mould of the central civil service, of which we should not be a part," he said. "Administrative independence is the necessary framework for the effective discharge of our role for which those powers (of the Judiciary, enshrined in the Constitution) are granted."

Overall, he said, the Jjudiciary needed flexibility to be able to adapt to the rapidly changing world.

"In the same way that we cannot fight modern crime with old methodologies, tools and training, we cannot run a modern court system with antiquated structures and staffing models.

"All of this calls for a paradigm shift and not the conformance to obsolete and ineffective policies and guidelines which sometimes contradict and conflict with the law, especially as they relate to human resource management.

"If our paradigm in the public sector is that we value the status quo above service delivery, and we see stability as meaning that no change is permitted, and if we fail to embrace emerging technologies and modern thinking, then we are lost."

He said the Judiciary had had "very cordial and productive" discussions with a sub-committee of Cabinet.

"We look forward, in the very near future, to movement on some Cabinet notes that have been pending for a considerable time."

In the audience yesterday at the National Academy for the Performing Arts, Port of Spain, was acting Attorney General Stuart Young. Asked for comment on the concerns raised by the Chief Justice, he told Newsday in a WhatsApp message: "As the Honourable Chief Justice acknowledged on a number of occasions during his address, we have recently had very productive meetings with the Judiciary to understand their concerns and requirements.

"We intend to work with the Judiciary to address the concerns raised. Some of the matters of employment in the public service, which include archaic methodologies and policies, affect the whole of public service, and we are looking at how best they should be addressed to ensure a more efficient delivery of services at the Judiciary and ministries."

The Judiciary’s allocation in the national budget was increased for 2024, with an additional $76 million for enhancing service delivery, reducing case backlog and dealing with delays in the justice system.

The fiscal 2024 allocation is $750, 660,540, according to the draft estimates, up from last year's allocation of $674,652,000.