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by pltm
(PLTM) - Her Ladyship, Hon. Dame Janice Pereira has called for judges in the region to remain vigilant in the delivery of justice amid heightened attacks on the judiciary in recent times.
During her speech to mark the opening of the New Law Year on Wednesday, January 13, 2021, she said the attacks are coming from “certain quarters” outside of the judiciary in the Caribbean region.
“Over the last year, we witnessed unwarranted and vitriolic attacks on the judiciary as an institution and on our judges as individuals by members of the public. The frequency of these attacks is becoming alarming with the potential for causing grave harm to the safeguards which are entrenched in our constitution for preserving and upholding the rule of law,” she said.
She said as a result, on “too many occasions” the bar associations and legal practitioners in the region have had to speak out against such conduct.
Justice Pereira said while it is proper to criticize a judicial decision and otherwise engage through the well-recognized process for appeals, it is “quite wrong to engage in baseless personal attacks against a judicial officer and the judiciary as a whole, merely because a decision has gone against you.”
She continued: “It is worth reminding that judicial officers take an oath to do justice according to law, not according to man or woman.”
The Chief Justice then parted with a reminder to legal advisors, that by remaining silent in the face of these attacks, “they become enablers and complicit in the undermining of the administration of justice.”
“This behaviour must be publicly rebuffed at every turn as silence in the face of these attacks only serve to give them credence,” the Chief Justice stated.
Independent Judiciary
In the same breath, the Chief Justice reminded the judiciary that they should remain an independent branch of government.
“We must therefore never allow ourselves to be lulled into a sense of complacency, or invite or encourage a blurring or crossing of boundaries between the judicial branch and other branches of government.”
She added, “Neither should unwarranted attacks on the judiciary allowed to become an acceptable norm of behaviour irrespective of whose lips the utterances may come. Our judges must therefore remain resolute, confident and vigilant in rendering justice without fear or favour in accordance with their oath.”
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