When the newspaper article appeared saying that Cabinet approved a project for the construction of four specially designed "judicial centres" across the country, it sounded too good to be true. The centres, which are to be situated in Trincity, Sangre Grande, Carlsen Field and Siparia, will support the proposed abolition of preliminary inquiries (PIs) as part of the criminal justice system and the recruitment of masters to oversee the new "sufficiency hearings" which will replace the PIs. In addition to the existing courts in the Hall of Justice and magistracies in Port-of-Spain and San Fernando, the new centres will serve to more evenly spread and decentralise the total volumes of cases nationwide. The proposed reduction in the daily lists of cases before magistrates has been a recurring concern of successive chief justices and the chamber urges Minister of Justice, Herbert Volney, and the present Chief Justice, Ivor Archie, to pursue this reduction even more vigorously.
For instance, removing ticket cases and applications for licences for the sale of liquor, jewelry, public dances, money lenders, etc, from the magisterial lists-once there are no objections to the applications-would certainly be a time-saving change. The collection of fines is an administrative function, not a judicial one, and by freeing up the judicial system of this task, judicial time could be more productively spent. Justice Roger Hamel-Smith, in 2007, observed that out of the average 22,000 ticket cases received in the courts every year, 50 per cent of the fines were paid either before or after hearing by magistrates. The other 50 per cent just remained in the system for warrants to be issued for arrest of defaulters. Loss of immediate revenue amounted to between $8 million and $9 million a year.
Payment of tickets
With the increase in the volume of tickets expected from the proposed use of closed circuit television and special vehicle licensing plates to monitor the nation's roads, the chamber again recommends that the ticket system be made easier for offenders to pay fines, thus allowing more tickets to be paid. Tickets should carry standard penalties which increase incrementally if deadlines for payment are missed, rather than the offender having to consume magisterial time to achieve the same objective. We reiterate that tickets should be payable at any courthouse, licensing office or bank, instead of the district in which they were issued. Such tickets should be recorded against the motor vehicle, driver or insurance policy, so failure to pay will impact on the renewal of permits, registration and transfers of vehicles and renewal and issuance of policies. Those who wish to contest tickets should be required to issue a summons against the officers who issued them instead of the officer having to do so, to recover unpaid tickets. Pleas of guilty could be entertained by completion of a simple form before a magisterial officer at any time, and payment effected by credit or debit card. The approval of licences does not necessarily require the services of magistrates per se. District revenue officers in the districts where the businesses are located can more conveniently approve these applications, provided the police have no or those impacted negatively by their approval.
Increasing detection
While the chamber awaits the tabling in Parliament of the Transfer of Proceedings Bill, 2011, intended to repeal the Indictable Offences (Preliminary Inquiries) Act, we remind Minister Volney of the need to also introduce legislation to allow the use of video conferencing and linkages to facilitate applications for bail, prisoners on remand, the admission of statements taken by police from accused persons, victims and potential witnesses whose lives are under threat by criminal elements or who are abroad. This is all part and parcel of the campaigns to increase the national detection, arrest and conviction rates and, in the long-term, reduce the rate of crime. For three consecutive years, the World Economic Forum's Global Competitiveness Report stated that crime is the number one problematic factor for doing business in T&T. With respect to indications, therein, those relative to the "business costs of crime, violence and organised crime" rank us 131 in the latest report, out of the 139 countries surveyed. When this is taken with our ranking at 3.6 out of ten (ten being the best score) in the Perception of Corruption Index, 2010, the many negative travel advisories from developed countries to their citizens about crime and its impact on visitors, the dying tourism trade and its effect on the economy in Tobago, these overshadow the path to our recovery.
Probate of wills
We cannot help but include here, too, that neglected department that deals with applications for grants of probate of wills and of letters of administration. The backlog ensures a waiting period of at least six months from the date of filing, so long as there are no queries by the registrar: queries being more the rule than the exception. Six months is a long time in the lives of moveable and unmoveable property. This is totally unacceptable, especially when most of those who wait are old and needy family members of the deceased. If the estate of the deceased comprises any business at all, six months stagnation could easily be the difference between failure and survival. Pages 31-38 of the Report by the Vision 2020 Committee on the Administration of Justice identified issues and problems in the Probate Registry. They are detailed in relation to legislation and rules being out of step with the changing environment, non-value added procedures and practices, inefficiency, workflows, backlog of searches, data entry, queries, delays in the issue of grants, uncertainty in timeframes for delivery of services, inequality of treatment, paucity of information, inadequate resources, plant and equipment.
There are 14 recommendations for changes to improve the functioning of this registry, including management of the ceiling qualifying applicants for such estates, category of persons entitled to apply for grants, resealing of wills proven abroad, interests of minors, the physically and mentally challenged and provision for cases in which wills have been lost. The Law Reform Commission has a definite role to play here in the review of legislation which has virtually stood still since 1939 with amendment of little or no substantial impact on modern-day life. The chamber compliments Minister Volney and the Government in their efforts to improve the administration of justice to all who must resort to its protection and relief. These efforts, however, must be focused on leaving no element in the system behind. More than $1 billion in the war on crime and the dispensation of justice to the citizenry is money well spent, once its impact also trickles down to society's most vulnerable.