Steady Decline in Parish Court Case Backlogs

Chief Justice, Hon. Bryan Sykes, says data over the past six years shows outstanding improvements in addressing case backlogs in the parish courts.

“There has been a steady decline in the net backlog of cases from 17.98 per cent in 2016 to 1.27 per cent. So, what that means is that the parish courts have exceeded international benchmarks, as far as the net backlog of cases is concerned. That is something that has never happened before in the history of our courts,” Mr. Sykes shared.

He was speaking during Wednesday’s (September 14) swearing in ceremony for five judges appointed to serve in the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court, at King’s House, where he outlined plans to further boost the judicial system’s efficiency.

Mr. Sykes pointed out that the parish courts continued to perform excellently during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“So even in that period, the courts showed resilience and determination and the steady decline continued… so that in 2020, the net backlog was 9.9 per cent; in 2021, it was 5.78 per cent, and now, in 2022, at 1.27 per cent,” he noted.

In terms of the gross backlog (active and inactive cases), Mr. Sykes said this is just over 12 per cent.

“In other words, we are now at the point where we can say that just over two per cent of cases in the parish courts are in backlog, and a large part of that has to do with the unexecuted bench warrants. So that means that we will have to have dialogue with the police about that,” he stated.

The Chief Justice said the data also indicate that the average time for the disposition of criminal cases is 7.69 months across all courts.

These, he noted, include the “heavier courts” of Kingston and St. Andrew, St. Catherine, Westmoreland, and St. James, while advising that the timeline for civil case dispositions averaged 9.96 months.

“We are now at the point where we are saying… the rest of the court system will remain at 24 months, as far as the backlog is concerned. How that is measured in the parish courts [is] we are now going to be reducing that time to 12 months for ordinary cases and 15 months for the complex cases. So, this is going to require, again, other adjustments,” the Chief Justice said.

Mr. Sykes commended the judges who have been performing outstandingly, and indicated that for superior courts, the High Court Civil Division will be receiving special attention, come January 2023, to reduce the average disposition time from 49.57 months, to keep in line with the 24-month standard.

He said mandatory mediation will be removed, as the data indicates that only 34 per cent of the approximately 3,000 cases between 2017 and 2019 were settled through this process.

“Not that mediation is a bad thing. But the fact of the matter is, if we are going to be a data-driven organisation, we have to go with the data,” he said, adding that with the present arrangement, it could take up to 12 months before a case comes before any judicial officer.

Mr. Sykes further stated that a docket system will be introduced. “The data tells us that when you have the same judge dealing with the [same] matters over a period of time, you tend to have more consistency and there is the reduced incentive to put off the matter for another day, because it is going to come back to you,” he said.

“We will also be emphasising more oral judgements, shorter judgements, better pre-trial preparation, [especially in] the well-travelled areas of the law, particularly sentencing cases… and also better case management. All of this will be supported by digitisation and digitalisation. In so doing, we intend to improve our performance in the Civil Division of the Supreme Court,” the Chief Justice explained.

Meanwhile, he said the Gun Court continues to perform excellently. “That Court and the Revenue Court are the only two courts that are under five per cent in terms of net backlog, and under 10 per cent in terms of gross backlog,” he pointed out.

With respect to the Court of Appeal, Mr. Sykes said “we are just about 14 per cent behind where we need to be at this three-year point.”

“So, it has to be balanced by the fact that there have been increased numbers of appeals. So, we now know that approximately 287 cases per year actually go to the Court of Appeal,” he added.

The Chief Justice further stated that “with that in mind, it now means that with the full complement of judges and judicial clerks and other support staff, the court will be better able to organise and manage its human resources to achieve even higher disposition rates.”

Mr. Sykes pointed out that there will also be a review of how judges are selected, with performance-based job descriptions for all posts, including Chief Justice.

The improvements are being done to raise the standards of the country’s judicial system.

The judges sworn in at the ceremony were: Hon. Justice Kissock Laing, who has been appointed to act as Judge of the Court of Appeal from September 19, 2022, to February 14, 2023; Master Pamela Mason, Master Stephany Orr, Her Honour Miss Opal Smith, and His Honour Mr. Dale Staple, who have been appointed to act as Puisne Judges from September 16, 2022, to December 20, 2022.