Sykes pushes case to abandon jury trials

WESTERN BUREAU:

CHIEF JUSTICE Bryan Sykes said that the justice system should be up for review, citing jury trial as a main point of concern during an interview with The Gleaner.

“The issue for me is an efficient justice system. All our processes should be reviewed, and trial by jury, as important as it is, must be one of them,” opined Sykes.

Trial by jury consumes a significant amount of time. It involves the selection of jurors for a particular case, rejection or acceptance by attorneys and the absence of jurors, for one reason or another, when cases are called up.

However, the chief justice argues that this does not necessarily have to be that way.

“In the case of bench trials they can begin as soon as the judge, attorneys and prosecution are in place. That process saves time and allows for more cases to be tried within the three to four weeks of a circuit court trial,” Sykes declared.

Continuing his arguments for a review, Sykes said jury trials have been abandoned in some parts of the Commonwealth, and for any review, emotions must be taken out of the process.

“Increasingly within the Commonwealth, jury trial has been reduced and in some cases abandoned completely,” he remarked. “In modernising the justice system here, a critical review is important.”

The view of the chief justice has elicited mixed reactions, with attorney Khadine Colman, who practises in Trelawny, disagreeing with the abandonment of jury trials.

“The voice of the people is always important. When it comes to matters of justice, the residents of a community should be given a voice. The only way for them to participate now is as members of a jury and I think it should remain,” Colman told The Gleaner.

George Trail, another attorney practising in Trelawny, also supports the view jury trial should stay.

“There is no evidence to show that bench trial is fairer to an accused than trial by jury. If it is not broken, then why try to fix it?” he argued.

STRIKE A BALANCE

A senior police officer stationed in Trelawny, who chose not to be named, has a different opinion and supports bench trials instead.

“The police have lost strong cases through jury trial. This is so, especially in sex cases. Lawyers tell their clients to shed tears in the doc. It will play on their emotions. One juror was heard to say, ‘a just little sex’,” the police officer shared. “Bench trials are in the hands of judges who know the law and that is the way to go.”

President of the Trelawny Lay Magistrates Association, Ken Grant, opined that both trials should continue as he sought to strike a balance.

“Some of the crimes committed, especially those heinous murders, should be handled by a judge. Judges deal with facts rather than emotions,” the senior justice said.

Voicing further for bench trials, Sykes concurred with Grant’s latter statement of fact that the buck should stop with those who possess greater knowledge of the justice system and court procedures.

“At the end of a trial, jurors are not required to give reasons for how they arrive at a verdict,” Sykes noted. “The judge is required by law to give reasons.”