Letter of the Day | Stop the decay of the courts
Published:Thursday | October 17, 2024 | 12:09 AM
THE EDITOR, Madam:
On October 15, The Gleaner published an article titled ‘Decayed courts, poor infrastructure a long-standing concern, says chief justice’.
An old maxim came to mind when I read the article. It states: ‘Justice must be seen to be done’. What, then, do we see when we visit Jamaica’s many courthouses? According to the 2007 task force, we will see old, dilapidated and inadequate buildings.
It would be a miracle for the Jamaican public to see the courts in such disrepair and still be confident that justice is being done. The public is more likely to wonder about the state of justice on our island. Has justice decayed to the point of the buildings meant to house its administration?
Indeed, this question of the status of our court infrastructure becomes more relevant today, as our crime rates remain unsustainably high and delays in cases cause significant backlogs. So, when criminal charges are dropped due to unnecessary delays, we look at the dilapidated buildings in frustration.
Court proceedings are not usually quick affairs, and many people already dread going through the court system. How much more dreadful is it then to think about spending any extended period of time in spaces described as ‘decayed’.
If our courts are where justice is to preside, the infrastructure should appear, at the bare minimum, as a place of power and respect. Just as we stand tall in clean, well-fitted clothes, and shrink in dirty, ill-fitted dress, we should be able to look upon our courts with pride and awe, not despair.
While public perception may not directly influence the dispensing of law within the courts, it does affect whether it is well received and respected. Thus, it is high time that we respect our courts and stop their decay.
MATTHEW KAMEKA
Seaford Town, Westmoreland