-
by pltm
(PLTM) - “It is not only when someone commits an offense that it becomes lawlessness, when things fester in the system, it becomes lawlessness.” These were the sentiments of a peeved Magistrate Shawn Innocent on Wednesday, October 17, after he chided a member of the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for a lack of initiative in moving a case forward.
It's not the first time in recent days that the DPP's office has faced a tongue-lashing from the Magistrate over the issue of slow progress on cases.
At the time of the criticisms, the Crown Counsel was lamenting the fact that he was unable to get contact information for a defendant, who was present in court.
Magistrate Innocent pointed out that the matter is one to do with an incident from 2015, and needs to be dealt with quickly.
Advising the member of the DPP's office on a simple course of action to resolve the difficulties outlined, he stated, “You need to understand how the system works,” later telling the said Prosecutor, “You need to think outside the box.”
Magistrate Innocent stressed, “If we don’t improve, things will never get done.”
The Magistrate has been attempting to clear the backlog of cases that have been appearing before him in a timely manner—with some cases being over three years old.
Back in September, he was appointed as a full-time Magistrate for three months to support to Senior Magistrate Tamia Richards in addressing the backlog that resulted from damages sustained to the Magistrate's Court buildings following Hurricane Irma.
