Ladies we want to thank you very much Caren cross children Court Administrator as well as former regist of the Supreme Court polar P to we allow you to take your seats as well on the inside so we actually pause for the answer declare by side we stand of the blue caran sea We To and make go Bless our Na ladies and gentlemen you may have your seat your Excellency Christine kangaloo order of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago president of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago The Honorable Mr Justice Iva Archie order of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago Chief Justice of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago and Mrs Denise
Rodriguez Arie representatives of the cabinet of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago your excellencies the heads of diplomatic missions The Honorable Mr Justice Adrian Saunders president of the Caribbean court of justice judges Masters and judicial officers of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago the right Reverend Claude Berkeley
Bishop of Trinidad and Tobago other representatives of religious bodies of Trinidad and Tobago representatives of the legal fraternity the Justice sector senior government officials and state and non-state entities representatives of the administration of the Judiciary of Trinidad and Tobago representatives of the media ladies and gentlemen my name is Andrea Peters
Chandler and it gives me great pleasure to extend a warm welcome to you our distinguished guests to the National Academy for the Performing Arts As We Gather in commemoration of this auspicious occasion the opening of the law term 2023 to 2024 at this time we enter into the
Segment of divine worship conducted by the Holy Trinity Cathedral I now invite the very Reverend Dr Shelley Tenya to state to the stage for the commencement of the service of divine worship good morning everyone our masters of Ceremonies has already read the required salutations but do allow me to welcome
Your Excellency Christine kangalu ort rtt president of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago The Honorable Mr Justice ival Archie Chief Justice of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago and Mrs Denise Rodriguez and all the other distinguished ladies and gentlemen that are present this morning in this congregation My Name Is Shel antina Dean
And Rector of the Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity and so I invite us now to stand for prayer let us pray Almighty and Eternal highest on high the light of the world the merciful compassionate caring and loving God we seek your divine presence amongst us this morning at this Interfaith
Service of worship of the ceremonial opening of the 2023 2024 law tomb bless the Chief Justice the judges and all connected with the administration of justice in this country we ask you to guide and protect them all continue to give them the health strength and vision to do all things
Right to the satisfaction of our nation show them the path of righteousness so that they will be guided in their judgments and decisions bless their families and all members of Staff father God you are everpresent in all our relationships you are the remover of sorrow and the bestower of
Happiness may your Divine Light continue to shine over their places of work for safety and protection so that they can perform their duties without fear or favor dear God we seek your forgiveness of any mistakes that have been made in the past we give thanks for all that you
Have bestowed upon us and seek your Eternal presence bless those who have served this Administration and are not with us today may your light continue to be with them now and in the Hereafter may we all receive comfort and solace in Your Love Power and Light amen and thank
You and so I invite you to be seated for the musical interlude by quite exquisitly done tea and te From the [Applause] H Re [Applause] keep [Applause] [Applause] Will bring to us shall take S GL Shadows pass ET [Applause] Oh [Applause] and now here to lead us in prayer are some of our prayer resolution ution volunteers these young people volunteer their time and assist the children’s Court by recommending strength-based sanctions for children who commit minor offenses we welcome the pair resolution volunteers to lead us in prayer
For our president prime minister and all those who serve as political authorities that God our Father continues to guide them in their decisions so that they may lead us in the way of development towards a higher level of nationhood and demonstrate by their example their individual commitment to our nation’s
Motto together we aspire together we achieve Lord in your mercy for the Chief Justice and other judges Masters magistrates registers justices of the peace and all those associated with them in the administration of justice that they may receive divine guidance from a mighty God to Serve the People efficiently and
Impartially so that Justice may not only be done but may also seem to be done Om Shanti Shany Shanti for the families of our nation immediate and extended that demic communicates effectively receive and instill those holy and eternal values Ed by our creator that shall bring to bear
Blessings upon themselves and the nation amen for the sick and Afflicted in our m that God in his wisdom will restore all mind and body to Perfection while giving his strength and courage for all we have to do that we will ever be mindful of his presence within and around us that
The promise of Peace Health Eternal happiness and Harmony shall be ours let us pray to the Lord for all those who work in the protective and Social Services of our nation that their efforts may be characterized by Integrity devotion and self- sacrifice and be duly appreciated by Those whom
They serve and in protecting us they themselves may be protected against the forces of Destruction and lawlessness as as Ash may it be so for the spiritual leaders that God will give them Divine guidance and strength to live the life and to work tirelessly and effectively towards the
Fulfillment to the citizens of the nation Lord in your mercy for the children of the nation we come before you seeking your protection guidance and blessings we are lifted up to you our beloved Creator Deliver Us from all manner of harm and allow us to grow in Trinidad
And Tobago in a supportive and nurturing environment guide the Hands words and actions of our parents and other family members our Educators neighbors parliamentarians religious leaders the government and those in the Justice and protective sectors give them wisdom help them to treat with the ills befallen our society and Grant them peace amen
Amen merciful Creator Embrace us with your love and show us how to disseminate the seeds of that love so that trees of stability and respect for both the Old and the young and for every Creed and race will be planted and bear only the fruit of goodness and positivity of understanding tolerance
Empathy and love we make this prayer earnestly and with faith that you will hear and answer our prayer amen for For My soul so We when troubles come and my heart bur then I am still wait again in silence until you come and sit a while with me you ra me up so I can stand on mountains You Raise Me Up to all stormy SE I am strong when I am on your should Can be there is no life no life without it hungers each Restless Heart it’s so imp Perfect but when you come my I am filled with wonder sometimes I think I Glimpse eternity You raise me up so I can stand on Mountain You Raise Me Up to walk on sto SE I am strong when I am on your shoulders you ra me up to more than I can Be you rais me up so I can stand the mountain Raise Me Up to Me I am strong when I am on your shoulder Raise Me Up to more than I can be You raise me up so I can stand on [Applause] you rais me up To I am strong when I am on your shoulders me up I You Raise Me Up Tom than I can [Applause] be beautifully done to prepare our hearts to receive a word and so at this time I would like to invite to the podium the right Reverend Claude Berkeley Bishop of the dasis of Trinidad and Tobago to share with us his s man thank you very much Dean permit me
To adopt the protocols already established by our Master of Ceremonies and even so allow me to pay my respects to your Excellency Christine kangalu o TT president president of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago The Honorable Mr Justice Iva Arie Chief Justice of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago and Mrs Denis
Rodriguez and all the other distinguished ladies and gentlemen that are present with us in this service of divine worship good morning to you all May the Almighty God receive our thoughts sanctify those thoughts cleanse our hearts and lead us into new truths about him Raymond Brown biblical scholar identified
A principle in the Book of Judges a principle he called the inevitability of judgment and he named that as a primary theme of This Book of Hebrew scripture included in our Holy Bible to say that sin or or we prefer other words these days offenses against others ultimately comes back upon
Ourselves offenses against others ultimately fall back on ourselves in other words do good and good will follow you of course we can blow a lot of holes in that theory but the principle Brown uses the sad story of King adoni bizek to illustrate his conclusion but before I get to that king of
Jerusalem I want to share some thoughts about the context the context is that the community of Israel after a period of settled leadership fell into a downward moral and religious spiral I think that follows in many instances in history they had the settled leadership of Joshua and they together in some of Joshua’s
Words as for me and my house we will serve the Lord and if you are not religious as the case might be we are making reference here to higher principles principles which govern us all as created beings the community had failed to conquer the land as was promised the National Life fell into
Downward spiral and religious confusion and God raised up judges and deliverers or Heroes to lead the people in that difficult time I want to make a disc closure right away that we are not to confuse judges with the judges of our high court or low court or other judges Masters and the
List judges here is a generic term used in the scripture in this section to talk about leaders of the people some even having military roles to perform but it did not exclude judicial function it is a generic term and I am taking advantage of a grand opportunity
To Rally our nation back to hold on to and execute the responsibilities ascribed to you so if I say judges and the headlines say Berkeley attack judges it is not wholly true in this discussion we are thinking of our national life together and in the story that led
Raymond Brown to talk about the inevitability of judgment it is this story which perhaps needs Parental Guidance Judah Came Upon Adon bezek at bezek and fought against him and defeated the Canaanites and the perizzites so it’s hostility it’s fighting it’s battle and Adon bezek fled but they
Pursued him and caught him and cut off his thumbs and big toes and then he responded 70 Kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off used to pick up scraps under my table as I have done so God has paid me back and they brought him to Jerusalem where he
Died it is out of that story that Raymond Brown picks the theme the inevitability of judgment in other words when you make a judgment on improper judgment watch out there’s something of that Boomerang effect when you fail to make a proper judgment watch out also it’s coming back
Around and you may very well be placing yourself in Peril and as I said before this is not for the judges really this is for all who listen as citizens of this honorable and decent Republic who often times shy away from that to which they have been
Called I spoke recently about people who argue vehemently for the position for the pay that goes with the position but not for the responsibilities that the position holds at this opening of the law term for this new period I would like today’s celebration to be a metaphor for a new season of
Justice across Trinidad and Tobago as I said before the Book of Judges does not limit the term to to judicial function it covers all responsibilities it talks about the connectedness the interdependence that flows around in any community and so every time we offend against another we cour the Injustice for ourselves that’s the
Principle and the downward moral spiral is exacerbated I do not think our nation is in that place but we have to be careful that we do not slip easily if settled leadership such as which judges might provide but not only judges parents teachers politicians and a long list of
Persons provide to keep the nation at its Optimum Rhythm different sections of our nation have advocated and exercised the principle of restorative justice and that is to be encouraged but I am of the view that it will not take away the inevitability of judgment if there is no
Transformation of heart and mind and relationship if we do not love one another and respect what our Creator God has done in each other the murder of children the murder rate in itself the assault of the elderly the violence against women and any misuse of the budgetary allocation for unfair
Gain or misuse of administrative processes is an offense against the people whoever engages in this matter will feel the full brunt of it to our own pain eventually for we are all connected wrong judgments will come back to haunt us and we have opportunity today to make
Adjustment it is such a grand and appropriate occasion the opening of the the law term and here it is we thought it was about judges and lawyers no it is about the citizens of Trinidad and Tobago taking on a new mandate what is more is that in the
Context of the Book of Judges there is another enabling theme and see if this doesn’t sound Republican inverted commas in those days there was no king in Israel all the people did what was right in their own eyes sounds like a republic doesn’t it I hope it is not our
Republic but we have gone past this matter of Kings we have taken responsibility for justice and righteousness for ourselves for our nation for our community we are a republic an honorable one at that and everyone who seeks to detract from that principle will feel the brunt of it everyone has a part to
Play all of this administration of justice and righteousness and Leadership of the people is everyone’s business I am merely asking our judges to continue to take the lead to keep the lead and to set us right because you are uniquely poised to offer settled leadership so today is as good a day as
Any for us to commit to taking on this matter of the inevitable ility of judgment we must move Beyond partial obedience to the law corrupt procedures the Folly of ungodly selfish and willful Behavior which produces further humiliation and despair among our people we can do better we have done better
And today we make resolution to go forward in that way every good wish and blessing to the fraternity of our legal system as you resume settled leadership for our people and of our people in this nation and as we strive to hold our portion of the responsibility assigned to us you and us
Together we will do it this works well when we are in communion with God the god of our heart and when we pay total allegiance to his principles for justice and righteousness that is what we’re called to and then the inevitability of judgment will offer to us that which is
Good because we have extended that which is good to the other may God bless us all When you walk through a stor hold your head up high and don’t be afraid of the dark at the end of the storm is a golden sky and the sweet s song of Al walk on through the Wind walk on through the rain oh your dreams be TOs and blow Oh Come walk on with hope in your heart and you never walk The you never walk Alone walk on through the wind walk call through the rain oh your dreams be TOs and blow walk on walk on with hope in your hearts and you never more You brothers and sisters we invite you to join us in the congregational hymn God bless our Nation God bless our nation of many vared races May we possess that common love that binds and makes us let it be known around the world that we can boast of unity we take our PR in our Liberty God bless our eyes of Tropic Beauty rare of flaming [Applause] point and sh lady Immortal the warm and Sparkling Waters that break Upon Our shes be out of T that seems to tell we take [Applause] a in Oury God bless our leaders give them Grace to guide on them thy judgment T to Ru the land to keep the flag of Freedom High that we may sing most lastingly we take our in all Liberty we take our pride in our [Applause] Liy we at the closing prayer and dismissal please join me if you able in the Lord Lord’s prayer Our Father who art in heaven Hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done on Earth as it is in heaven give us this day our daily bread
And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into hope but Deliver Us from Evil for thine is the kingdom the power and the glory forever and ever amen Eternal God Heavenly Father be gracious to us and bless
Us and make your face to shine upon us as a nation make us strong but peaceful make us just but also merciful make us prosperous and generous in our relations one with the other and keep us ever more in your love the love that brought us into this
World we pray for your own name’s sake amen go forth into the world in peace be of good courage hold fast that which is good render to no man evil for evil strengthen the fainthearted support the weak Help The Afflicted love the Brotherhood Sisterhood love and serve the Lord
Rejoicing in the power of His Spirit and the blessing of God Almighty upon you the Father the Son Son and the Holy Spirit be among you and remain with you now and always amen thank you further instructions for our exit of the building thank you Bishop B could all be
Seated to officially bring to an end the Divine worship segment we would now like to invite our three stately gentlemen who have been performing for us thus far Edward Cumberbatch Raymond Edwards and Nigel Floyd who are part of a group known as quite exquisitly done Titi
Better known as QED Titi to close us off with their moving rendition of Sanda Feel free to put your hands together now come on Awesome Sanda saand Sanda ring the bellanda hey CH of Freedom across the world give them children a hand to hold like a rainbow come to light let them sunshine and right from po to and corner to corner hold on hold on the bridge Andross the B hold on hold on chain of
Colors rhym and music yeah connection chain of Bring hey from California California Philadelphia Philadelphia sweet Music papic down Louisiana hey from to and corner to corner hold on hold on behind the bridge Andross the Border hold on hold on chain of colors and music yeah all connection Chain of Love Sing with us let me hear youand oh from P to and Cor to Corner hold on hold on behind the bridge andoss the hold on hold on of col and Music Connection chain Of bring me B You and the music of Andre tanker lives on Sanda done by QED the gentleman Edward cumberbach or should that be Dr Edward cumberbach Raymond Edwards and Nigel Floyd we would have witnessed the service for the commemoration of the opening of the law term 2023 2024 just a reminder if you’re
Wondering why we would have seen the departure of our president Her Excellency Christine kangaloo it is because the president represents all three arms of the state and cannot well it is not best practice rather for her to be at the sitting which is going to be happening momentarily so she was here
For the church aspect of the event and she has left before the sitting has begun so in terms of the sitting right Reverend Claude Berkeley would have spoken spoken truth to Authority as is his want he spoke about na building in addition to assuming responsibilities in addition to the
Perks of jobs that individuals might want to assume and generally as we said speaking truth to power one of the things that we really would have seen that is a bit different was some of the intercessions by the pair resolution volunteers that would have been described by the ladies carlen cross
Children court administrator and Paula former registra of the Supreme Court and the the different energy that this brings to this the opening of the law term and we will have the speech by the Chief Justice in just a bit so we’re looking forward to that but we’re
Thanking you that you are making the time to spend with us here at this point in time looking at this the commemoration of the opening of the law term 2023 2024 so in terms of MPS in attendance we would have also seen the minister of planning Penelope beckles but Planning
And Development we would have seen the minister of energy and energy Industries Stuart young as well as minister in the ministry of attorney general and legal Affairs sen well Minister sugr sing well sag Su graming and we’re looking forward to what it is we will be seeing as the the event unfolds as we’ve been told the speech by the Chief Justice Iva Arie sets the tone for what the focus of this
Law term will be we’ve been told that in addition to returning to physical meetings there have also been the retention of virtual meetings which would help increase efficiency which would help some things take place at a manner that is a little easier so you don’t need need to go jump into your car
Or get the transportation to go physically to this location but we hear some music so we take you back inside Napa to see what is taking place n N [Applause] N he N N [Applause] d E A D [Applause] [Applause] thank you Mr regello and Mr chuckery for your vibrant celebration of our national instrument the sitting of the Court will commence shortly and I wish to take this opportunity to remind us that all Court Protocols are to be observed and in particular to recall that there is to be
No use of electronic devices for messaging photography or videotaping except by the Trinidad and Tobago television and our official photographer all rise good morning everyone I am begging pardon from in front because I will be a little while um but there are some things that I want
To say this morning so I’ll ask you to bear with me today marks a new beginning in several respects it is the first time that we are gathering in person since the coid 19 pandemic it is also the first time that this ceremonial sitting is being held elsewhere than in the Hall of
Justice the bench and bar have grown to the point where the convocation Hall can no longer accommodate the increased numbers so I have had to designate this building as a court for today there were also new challenges when we last convened in 2019 the murder toll was 520 this year like in
2022 we are on course to surpass 600 understandably there is much anxiety and in that atmosphere public calls for more accountability are not misplaced those of us who deliver public goods and services owe a duty of transparency and this annual event provides a rare opportunity for me to
Engage the whole country and to share the judiciary’s vision our strategic initiatives and progress and to give some insight into the systemic impediments to Optimal Service delivery much of the misunderstanding among the public and other stakeholders arises from a failure to understand the unique role of the Judiciary as a
Separate arm of state and the constraints that are placed on us by the lack of autonomy over Staffing and financial management which are both key areas of administration in my 2018 address I noted and I quote that our Recruitment and management philosophies and processes May well be incomprehensible to those who looking on
From the outside may not understand what we do why we do it the way we do it end of quote unfortunately little has changed in that regard as I discuss our challenges however one should note that many of the frustrations that we experience are common to Ministries and Departments of
The executive and I know that some senior public officials are quietly chaing the only difference is that they are not able to speak as freely as I can the structural and systemic deficiencies are crushing all of us and the time has come for major public sector reform and I will explain why as
I go along so while I will spend some time on our specific challenges I want you to understand that there’s no conflict with the executive and the headline tomorrow is not a bashes the executive we have a common interest in preserving the rule of law and making life better for everyone within our
Borders as recently as last week the Judiciary engaged in very cordial and productive discussions with a subcommittee of cabinet and we look forward in the very near future to movement on some cabinet notes that have been pending for a considerable time these are crucial for the Implement for the implementation of our strategic
Plans so my purpose this morning therefore is to give a brief en environmental scan to summarize our strategies for negotiating the landscape but in discussing performance I must mount a frontal challenge to those shibolet that condemn our public sector to mediocrity we live in a dynamic environment where the pace of change is
Increasing exponentially Quantum leaps in in technology expose new risks but also provide opportunities to re-engineer processes to make them more secure and more efficient to cite a few instances the unprecedented developments in artificial intelligence have forced judiciaries worldwide to Grapple with a range of new evidential issues surrounding for example the reliability
Of photographs and audio and video recordings in the era of deep fakes we will have to Grapple with things like assignment of liability for everything from autonomous vehicle collisions to medical negligence in a space where machine learning enables robots to surpass the average doctor’s accuracy in Reading biopsy
Slides how do we secure evidence whether it’s physical or stored in electronic form in 20123 blockchain technology is Tak taking over and it seems to be one of the most viable solutions for secure authentication and the elimination of forgery of Deeds court records and orders and all of these issues ultimately must
Be managed and resolved by courts it’s not just the judges who have to be educated we are surrounded by a myriad of support systems without which we cannot function courts are Information Management systems and at every level new and different skill sets are required many of them simply do not
Exist in Current public service establishment jobs and in some areas especially but not restricted to ICT concretizing job descriptions that may be obsolete in 5 years does not afford the agility that is required for appropriate And Timely responses our legislative environment is also changing as we grapple with climate
Change terrorism and human trafficking in short new challenges require new legislation rules and modernization new legislation rules and modernization require greater efficiency and they would require new processes and systems to be more efficient in turn new processes and systems may also call for new legislation and rules new processes and systems may
Require new technology and reconfigured physical spaces and all of these require new Staffing Arrangements all of this calls for a paradigm shift and not a conformance to Obsolete and ineffective policies and guidelines which sometimes contradict and conflict with the law especially as they relate to Human Resource
Management if our Paradigm in the public sector is that we value the status quo above Service delivery and we see stability as meaning that no change is permitted and if we fail to embrace emerging Technologies and modern thinking then we are lost recently I was faced with the current
Disconnect when a Judiciary proposal was shut down because it was said to conflict with the policy on utilization of contract employment established in a public surface circular in 1992 this is not law it’s just a policy created for another era surely the context is different 30 years down
The road in the same way that we cannot fight modern crime with old methodologies tools and the training we cannot run a modern court system with Antiquated structures and Staffing models let me give you an illustration of how destructive this mindset is and how the thinking is
P permit me to repeat a rather lengthy quote from an 1892 report on the system of administration of justice in what was then the colony of Trinidad now this is not the first time I am doing this publicly either but it appears that up to now the right people have not really
Listened and I I I’ll begin the quote but we desire to call your excellency’s attention to the fact that for the most part appointments to clerkships in the registrar’s office have in the past been made without any regard to the previous training of the gentleman appointed the registrar’s office appears
To have been regarded as a government Department to which a clerk could be promoted from any other office and promoted again from it to another in point of fact the registrar’s office is one that requires a special training before a clerk can properly perform his duties and no one however great his
General ability and official experience may be can properly do this this work without some preparation we find that some of the clerks have been transferred from other government departments for no better reason apparently but that it was promotion for them in point of salary but without any regard for his Fitness
For that office no doubt after a Time some of these gentlemen have learned their duties and have become excellent classs but in the meantime they have been of very little use some knowledge of law is required for many of the duties the clerks have to perform and to take a gentleman say
From the audit office and set him to draw up decrees and orders is fair neither to the regist nor to himself we venture to recommend that the registrar’s office should be considered a department by itself and that the promotion should run as far as possible in the office young Clarks can
Be taken in and trained up in the special work of the office and promoted from time to time as vacancies occur in this way trained staff will always be available we venture however strongly to impress upon your Excellency the undesirability of transferring a Clark from any other government Department to
The registrar’s office unless it be one of Junior clerkships with a view of his being trained up to the special work of that office it’s a rather long quote but um it still applies in 20203 we are trying to solve a problem that is30 years old with a 30y old
Policy let us have a cont conversation about continued relevance but the mere existence of a policy cannot be sufficient reason not to do something different especially when what we’re doing is clearly not working after all isn’t it the same senior public servants who advise ministers on when to change
Policy and let me say something to those who say that why does the Judiciary always think they are special we are but so is the Ministry of Health so is the ministry of energy or anywhere that relies on specialist knowledge and procedures but we are also
A separate arm of State as is the Parliament and that must also be recognized this might be a convenient time for me to address some of those shetes that I talked about the first one is that you can only fill a vacancy with a contract person if there’s no other available
Option well let me say this first of all everybody’s employed on a contract some of us until mandatory retirement age and some for a shorter defined period and all of us are there subject to good behavior the only difference is that it’s a lot harder and takes a lot longer to discipline a
Permanent worker the truth is that most jobs in the Judiciary require a knowledge base that exists nowhere else and has to be acquired through training which leads me to the second one that certain functions like handling cash can only be handled by establishment employees this one is strange it’s at
Odds with the express provision in in the law that permits the controller to authorize contract officers to be accounting officers the exercise of that discretion is a choice why is one to assume that contract officers are inherently less honest all are subject to criminal law if they steal then there’s the notion that
Employees are somehow better off if they are permanent nobody in their right mind will want to fire a contct contract officer who is performing the vast majority of our senior staff are on are on contract some of them for over 25 years the law provides for 5year renewable contracts and with that people
Do get bank loans and mortgages from an industrial relation standpoint contract workers are not without protection being on contract does not preclude representation by a collective bargaining unit in any event the first thing anybody does when they release is to join a union that is their right there is definitely a place for
Collective bargaining and we recognize our unions as important stakeholders but as an institution we must seek the best mix for our purposes the fourth is the refusal to accept relevant private sector experience for qu qualification and compensation purpose purposes in standardized positions this leads to severe inequities and to
Demotivation when people are paid different salaries for doing the same job it also places public sector experience that is not directly relevant ahead of relevant private sector experience and then pays more for the irrelevant experience if you might permit me a colloquialism what is we really doing quite apart from the obvious
Unfairness I am of the view that this also has the potential to become a legal issue but I will not dwell on that now and the fifth is the notion that the eligibility for professional positions can only be acquired by University degrees this is a particular problem in fields like
It a degree in for example computer science tells mean nothing about the relevant competencies for a specific job those skills and competencies may be acquired throughout a combin through I should say through a combination of experience and short certification courses and should be compensated appropriately I have commented in the past
That following the Civil Service methodology I could not hire Bill Gates as an IT technician because he does not have a University degree stop and think about that for a minute compensation must also be determined by the content of the job and not the particular characteristics of
The person once they are competent to do the job I thought it would address those so as to put in context um my plea and my explanation to you as to where we are going and what we need to get to where we need to go for reasons that I have already cited
And that I that will become more apparent as I go along the Judiciary sees its optimal composition as being a mix of permanent and pensionable and contract employees but this appears to be at odds with the philosophy embraced by some senior civil servants and there has been
A consistent attempt to shoe horn us into the mold of the central Civil Service of which we should not be a part I am aware that of the fact that some people get their backs up when we remind them about this separation of powers and the
Fact that we are not a part of the government but there is a reason for that constitutional structure the preservation of a stable democracy is predicated upon a delicate balancing of power among the separate arms of the state and because our powers and roles are different our ways of operating sometimes
Differ administrative Independence is the necessary framework for the effective discharge of our role for which those powers are granted what does it mean to be a superior court of record we create maintain and verify a record of legal status for everyone and everything in the country so the
Judicial Support Officer we call them jsos who is the functionary sitting in the court to assist the judge plays a critical role he or she is not a general civil service clerk or boa it requires specialized knowledge there are many other examples throughout the Judiciary these people have to be
Recruited for their specific Acumen that they require for the job and they must be trained examined and promoted with increasing compensation based on their knowledge and experience they must be subject to a code that is unique to the Judiciary and they must be required to upscale as new laws rules and procedures are
Introduced the present centralized civil service does not offer them a career progression path but with acquired institutional experience they can move on to successive contract positions in line with their personal aspirations and development as indeed many of our officers have done many of our senior staff have come
Through that route our staffing plan is therefore based on a mix of permanent and pensable and contract employees and yet there are these consistent attempts to micromanage our Recruitment and there is behavior that frustrates our attempts more troubling is that some of our contract employees are being offered comparable positions
In other public bodies sometimes at as much as twice the salary package to make matters even worse there are instances where salaries and allowances already set are subsequently reduced which further impacts our ability to recruit and retain well-qualified and suited applicants for effect I’m going to cite an extreme example of reasonable setting
Of terms follow me on this the job of Marshall’s assistant is unique to the Judiciary it involves some understanding of the law which impacts the legal elements of their work and it often requires the officers to drive and to enter dangerous environments to serve process to Levy execution and rits of
Possession to conduct auctions to receive money to search prison to keep jurors safe etc etc they work very independently and so they must know what they’re doing traditionally Marshall’s assistants were persons holding the position of baith and were drawn from the messenger stream and trained up cabinet in recognition of the unique
Nature of the job its expanded complexity and its responsibility agreed to a separate position and job description on contract and required Us in accordance with cabinet policy to negotiate terms with the CPU the job of Marshall’s assistance which is a traveling job requires five cxs the only establishment position that
Comes close to it but does not capture the extent or complexity of what the Marshall’s assistants do is that of bay there are major differences now in 2013 bft compensation was set at 5717 to 7424 per month which is range 21 for persons with less than 5 years experience and 6690 to
8081 which is range 24c for persons with more than 5 years experience bear in mind these are 20 13 salaries regardless of experience BFFs have paid subsistance a traveling allowance of 2400 and they enjoy additional travel facilities including tax-free motor vehicle loan by comparison the basic salary for a
Judiciary Sal secretary which also requires 5 cxs is$ 8,900 while the position of driver which requires none is 6200 so we ask for a scale of salaries on which we would place the Marshall’s assistance according to the experience they have we also ask for other perks
Akin to bfts to address the amount and the nature of the traveling that they do in 2023 the CPU has set their terms at 6,300 a month and 1400 traveling not 24 with none of the other perks that are offered to the Bay no alone no provision for all
The traveling they must do and no consideration of the dangers they face how is that reasonable what message is it sending if I can slip into the vernacular again what it is we doing here this is what we face and I know that the DPP and other agencies of the
Executive have the same problem and you know know it could be fixed quite easily may I remind that in respect of contract positions the office of the CPO has no statutory Authority the remit is at the direction of cabinet and the last time I checked the law that office operates
Under the direction of a minister one can understand the original reasoning for placing compensation for permanent and pensable and contract workers under one Central umbrella but if its purpose was to achieve Equity then that is clearly not working it seems that the size and complexity of State operations has outgrown the
Capacity and Resident expertise of a centralized human resource department we need to have an open discussion about the philosophy that guides our state employment policies rationalization of jobs jobs is a central pillar of our service delivery strategy without that I can’t sit he every opening court and promise you
Anything we have to and we do continue to do our best so let’s talk about what our best is for the last year like the public the Judiciary recognizes and acknowledges two things one one the time to disposition of matters at the court is too long and two
The size and comp the size of the pending case load and the backlog is too large but this is not a problem that we can judge our way out of we have to manage our way out so our service delivery strategies require us to do a
Few things one to make access to and navigation of our syst systems easier for the public two to make more appropriate and efficient use of our resources three to develop internal capacity in terms of processes systems tools and human results four utilize differentiated case flow management at a macro level and we
Are well Advanced on that Journey since 2017 we began a phase roll out with the launch of the Chan court and of Titi Jim which is our bespoke in-house case management software this was part of the bigger plan to set us up for ejustice and to divisionalized the Judiciary in
Recognition of the fact that civil cases criminal cases family cases and estate Administration are all different and to be handled effectively they need different management they require different legislation different rules different systems different processes different resources different training different management and tools the focus then moved to the
Upgrade of buildings and the start of eServices with the launch of Court pay and E probate we continued divisionalization with the launch of the Criminal Division of the high court in 2018 next came redistricting and decluttering of the magistracy where we move matters like traffic tickets that did not
Require judicial intervention and we benefited from the legislation that also remove small level marijuana possession cases we then reduced the number of magisterial districts from 13 to three to consolidate resources and avoid unnecessary duplication we opened the princess toong judicial Center then we moved Administration and civil
Courts to Tower D at the waterfront with new courtroom technology the short to medium-term goal is to migrate to Virtual and hybrid courts which have met with success during the pandemic and to focus on the criminal cases because that’s where the major concern is now by promoting judge
Alone trials where possible while also building out a appropriate Courts for when jury trials are required the ultimate goal is to have an e Judiciary with repurposed and appropriate buildings fit for purpose from which we can deliver faster and more effective services in that regard over the next
Year we will continue the construction of the new San Fernando magistrates court building which was paused during the pandemic and we will complete the refurbishment of of the San Fernando Supreme Court building which we had to close as it was no longer habitable let me apologize here for the temporary but
Necessary inconvenience to our clients in the South um but we are doing our best by continuing to offer hybrid and virtual access with the availability of the virtual access centers it’s not always necessary to travel to pter Spain if attendance at a court fa facility is required
In the pipeline are more and upgraded Courts for criminal and Family Matters the upgrade and repurposing of the different courts different locations may now focus on different types of matters we’re upgrading technology we up and we’re also upgrading our physical and cyber security Now obviously all of this will require restructuring and
Realignment of staff how we propose to do this is by using a phased approach in which no one will lose their job upskilling and redeployment will ensure that all who want to remain will be accommodated we also have vacancies that we would like to fill and for these we
Would like to consider the scores of young people who have worked with us well over the years as ojts and Ministry of Labor relief workers but who are forced to leave when they reach their comp compulsory time limit let me say you know that when when talk of this restructuring goes around
It’s very unfortunate that gossip and rumor mongering presumably I I suppose begun in places in which persons know only part of the story but not all or who don’t understand and this is being used to scare public servants into need jerk reactions and it is sowing Discord it needs to
Stop but but without these major changes our transformation will be stalled we are being asked to improve while our hands are tied behind our backs we’re given parts of a car but no engine or Wheels I’m grateful therefore for the recent indications of movement for our stuck cabinet
Notes um we had very cordial discussions as I as I said but I have to make the point that a lot of the issues I adverted to earlier could be solved if we were granted the long promise administrative autonomy there are options you either give us the
Contract positions we ask for or move all Judiciary staff under a Jud Judiciary commission a Judiciary Authority a court service I don’t care what you call it but we have been waiting since 1892 we are clear on our HR strategy I call it the seed principle s for
Stability because we know there’s no training ground for the Judiciary outside of the Judiciary so we have to mitigate the revolving D phenomenon and the loss of knowledge workers after we have invested in their training e for Equity there must be parity of remuneration regardless of division or
Contract status so we have to revise the job descriptions e efficiency and cost Effectiveness we are doing this with little or no increase in recurrent costs to the state we are redesigning the jobs training for cross functionality to minimize numbers and to better cope with temporary absences that way we are
Trying to ensure high performance and work ethic and the D for development we have to design jobs that allow opportunities for growth and development and prepare staff to take advant advantage of opportunities and we can’t achieve any of that without the necessary control over our staffing and if we are being
Forced into the traditional Central Civil Service mold our delay and backlog strategies backlog reduction strategies which are already being implemented are predicated upon the fundamental principle of case flow management which is that the court must control the pace of litigation not the lawyers not the litigants on a micro level case flow
Management involves creating individual dockets that make judges more accountable by fixing responsibility for cases from the time of filing by profiling those dockets to facilitate differentiated case flow management by identifying opportunities for early disposition by incentivizing the use of those early disposition modali ities like plee bargaining maximum sentence indications mediation
And adjusting the filing fee and cost structure also there must be robust management you both in terms of the case flow the docket that the case management and the trial management and no avoidable adjournments we should only have trials when that’s absolutely necessary and we should only give written judgments when necessary and
Those must be delivered in time we are migrating services to a virtual platform wherever advantageous and we have to ensure the ubiquitous use of appropriate technology whe it relates to case management information system whether it relates to research and data analysis e tools including e filing litigation management software and litigation and presentation
Tools so that’s a big picture of what we’re doing where we’ve come from where we going and what our strategies are I know everybody wants to hear numbers so far despite all the constraints we can report some modest success as we climb out of the pandemic experience in the high court
Civil um last year filings were actually reduced from 4629 in 2021 to 4548 this compares to a 10-year average of 457 so it’s it’s the intake is fairly steady but determinations were up to 3575 from 2872 this compares favorably with prepandemic levels it was 3 2009 in
2019 and it’s holding at around the 10year average of 3554 which suggests that we seem to be about at Capac capacity given the current methodologies and strategies which is why we are doing the changes importantly 66% of the matters disposed of were less than 2 years old at the time of
Disposition now we Grumble about delay but I can tell you that around the commment and internationally that is not a bad statistic High Court criminal we had 184 indictments filed last year we had there were 175 determination that’s a 95% clearance rate and it represent a significant recovery from 2019 when we
Only had 99 determined um however only 33% of those matters were less than three years pending in the high court at the time of determination so we have to to do better there but I am confident that with the proclamation of the administration of justice indictable proceedings Amendment
Act and that’s the one time I’m going to say it a jipper before the end of the year we will see a significant increase we have almost completed the re-engineering of our internal workflows and we will engage all stakeholders in the criminal justice sector later this month as we would
Continue joint prep preparation and training for the proclamation which is expected as I said before the end of the year in terms of a state Administration filings have dramatically increased by about 25% from pre pandemic levels which I attribute to the use of e filing it were 4,803 uh
2,811 grants were issued which compares favorably with the 10-year average of 2630 but we run the risk of falling behind without the long awaited legislation to establish the Civil Estates Administration and small claims division so that we can put in place adequate and appropriate Staffing I hope
I’m not telling Tales out of school if I say and I see the acting attorney general here that’s that’s one of the notes that um we have been assured is being given is being given attention so I say thank you thank you for that’s it in the Family Division there has been
A significant increase in filings since the opening of the family court in princes toown in July of 2021 whereas previous filings were in the range of 5500 or so per year in 2022 23 we had 9,000 51 new filings of which 3,173 were domestic violence 2,992 were divorces and 1766 were
Maintenance clearly we have a social problem that needs attending to now of that number we managed 7,446 determinations this is up 6% from 2021 22 and it’s up 24% um from the 10year average but one of the concerns is that um only 35% of matters in pter Spain 30% in Tobago and
57% in prin Tong respectively were less than 6 months old at the time of determination so we are not quite meeting our targets especially for domestic violence which can be life and death but this is a human resource issue it all comes back um it all comes back
To the same thing we do need more appropriate trains staff in the children Court despite a 5% decrease in filings determinations have fallen 15% from 734 to 625 this is also a resource issue this jurisdiction is also one where speed is more critical but 41% of the matters
Determined were less than one year old at that time so we are making some progress and one has to note that these matters don’t really end um they often stay with the court for some time as we are required to monitor the children after they come through the court
System there has been much discussion and concern lately about the children who are the victims victims of trafficking and who are not being brought before the court as is required by law we will soon be inviting the relevant stakeholders including the counter trafficking unit immigration and other units of National Security educ
Education and child and gender Affairs to discuss multi- agency protocols for managing children who are the subjects of trafficking and sexual offenses now let me say something about the other strategic objectives because while throughput is important numbers do not tell the whole story recall that among the service
Delivery objectives I mentioned are the Improvement of ease of access to Justice and that felt sense of procedural justice as well as the development of our human and other resource capacity so I will speak now to some of those initiatives the virtual access centers we continue to roll them out across the
Country where Witnesses and litigants can attend closer to home with the assistance of Marshals ons spot to ensure the Integrity of proceedings we have even gone so far as to send Marshals to the homes of persons who are infirm so that they can attend court virtually excuse me the securing access fairness and
Efficiency or safe project is a regional initiative aimed at ensuring the Effectiveness and efficiency of the criminal justice sector through the development of resources to assist Caribbean judiciaries in serving the growing number of litigants in person more effectively self-represented litigants include persons who whether by choice or
Because they have no option have to navigate our court system on their own to resolve their matters the safe project is being implemented in Trinidad and Tobago through a partnership with the international narcotics and law enforcement Affairs section of the US Embassy and the Judiciary and the partnership is
Between them and the Judiciary of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago with the national Center for state courts as the implementing agency in Trinidad and Tobago the safe project will focus on interactions with all litigants in person from an Institutional perspective not just those involved in criminal matters it will
Deliver data gathered on stakeholder experiences and needs within the system technological solutions including user specific software and Hardware to address their needs training resources tools and materials and print and electronic communication tools for litigants in Person Court customers and Court staff including judicial officers we are working closely with the ncsc to
Complete and launch project deliverables in the first quarter of this law term I want to mention as well costat we have signed a anou with costat uh who has been one of our reliable Partners over the years to implement the accelerate restore and connect or Ark program for children who come before the
Court it combines academic development psychological support career coaching and mentorship and the aim is to create a supportive environment that promotes positive behavior change while reducing recidivism we also launched just connect a commitment to lifelong learning is what is expected of our judicial and other Professionals in the
Judiciary so a shared digital platform was launched to provide a range of online learning resources materials and e-learning modules to meet the future needs and expectations of Learners just connect was launched in May 2023 and it brings together Caribbean judges judicial judicial officers and legal professionals through an online
Community Learning and sharing platform the development of just connect was made possible through another car collaboration between the Caribbean judiciaries and the anti anti-crime program of the US Department of State from which the funding comes through the initial funding comes through the Bureau of International narcotics and law enforcement and again the implementing
Partner is the national Center for state courts Judiciary professionals from 13 Caribbean territories will have the opportunity to share content engage in Regional meetings undergo synchronous and asynchronous self-based training at their convenience and to participate in discussion fora one of the signif ific advantages of just connect is the
Reduction in expenses associated with in-person courses which makes judicial training more accessible to professionals across the Caribbean this increased accessibility will lead to Greater participation in judicial education ensuring that judges and other judicial professionals stay updated and will enhance the delivery of Justice in the region theou between the Judiciary of
Trinidad and Tobago and the University of the West indes was signed in 2022 the intent is to make subject matter experts in each institution available to the other to give lectures and enrich their learning environment and experience without any cost by way of fees to either party and the first
Lecture was hosted by The Faculty of social sciences in partnership with the judicial Education Institute of Trinidad and Tobago at the D auditorium at the U in November of last year we look forward to a long and fruitful partnership we are aware that frustration has been expressed in some
Circles about the lack of dramatic gains in throughput despite the money spent on the Judiciary money isn’t everything and it’s not the only thing that require is required to keep us going a common limiting factor in all of the performance statistics that I have shared is the human resource it is as if
We have ordered a new high performance car outfitted it with a Sleek chassis and turbocharged engine and forgot to buy the wheels we cannot drive 90% of our car we need special and we need special specialist mechanics to keep it going however as I said I’m encouraged by the recent positive discussions with
The executive and I am now more confident that we are about to get that car out of the showroom and onto the road now you may ask where’s the car going we are continuing to develop an e Judiciary I spoke earlier about the challenges and opportunities presented by new technologies like Ai and
Blockchain globally Ai and robotic process automation or RPA are being used to automate highly repetitive and routine tasks that human beings perform on computers some examples in the AI field are automated document sorting and review where AI algorithms are now being used to quickly sift through thousands
Of e file documents and categorize them based on their content and relevance to a particular case thus reducing the workload and increasing the efficiency of classs and Le legal professionals natural language processing is used for legal research it can analyze legal texts and presidents and regulations to assist judges and
Lawyers in research helping them to identify relevant cases and legal arguments more effective more efficiently AI is also being used for virtual customer service agents chat bards are being used to handle basic queries from the public about case status court procedures or required documentation thus freeing up human staff for more complex
Tasks it’s used for optimize scheduling and prioritizing machine learning algorithms are now being used to optimize Court scheduling all of these are possibilities that are right here with us in terms of RPA um document management and E filing as well is automated they’re being used to sort file and manage income incoming
Electronic documents RP is used for case assignment Bots are being programmed to automatically assign cases to judges or clerks based on predefined rules such as workload expertise or jurisdiction RPA is being used for notification systems to automate the process of notifying all stakeholders whether it be judges attorneys or
Litigants about case updates schedule changes or important deadlines via email or SMS it’s used for legal research while not as advanced as full-fledged AI RPA Bots are being programmed to pull out relevant statutes cases or regulations based on specific queries and th saving time in legal research this is where the profession
Has to go to E RPA is used in collection and processing to handle the routine task of collecting and processing various fees fines or bail amounts often integrating directly with financial systems to ensure accurate and timely trans transactions data extraction and entry RPA Bots are being programmed to scrape
Data from multiple sources or formats and enter them in a centralized database th ensuring consistency and integrity which is especially useful for Gathering evidence and maintaining records compliance and Reporting courts have to adhere to numerous regulations and Reporting requirements RPA Bots are being programmed to automate the generation and submission of reports
Reducing the scope for human error vertial assistance they can’t replace human guidance but they can be used to handle some of the more routine queries that public facing cost staff have to deal with thus freeing them up for more complex interactions automated transcript destion some courts are beginning to
Integrate RPA with natural language processing Technologies to automate transcription of Court proceedings spoiler alert we are introducing this in the criminal High Court this turn workflow automation many internal workflows such as approval of approval chains for certain types of decisions can be automated thus speeding up internal processes and reducing administrative
Bottlings now these Technologies do not replace human beings but they release them to focus on tasks that require complex decision making or nuanced understanding thereby increasing efficiency accuracy and job satisfaction we have to get ahead of the evolutionary wave and leave the coming generation with an institution that is
Fit for purpose and EMP employs them in keeping with their Career Development aspirations and their desire for mobility and Agility which may not always coincide with those of my generation we want to create a system for when I am gone that will also function now with regard to the Integrity of our
Processes blockchain offers many advantages first is secure e filing it’s being used to create immutable timestamp records of e file documents making it impossible to backdate or tamper with them once submitted can be used for smart contracts for administrative procedures so it can en automate the enforcement of
Legal agreements or court orders such as the disbursement of funds in compliance with a settlements once a triggering event is identified it can be used for chain of custody management to provide an immutable record of evidence handling reducing the possibility of tampering and strengthening the Integrity of the judicial process for identity
Verification blockchain technology is being used for secure and efficient identity verification ensuring that e file documents and digital Court proced ings are only accessible to authorized individuals it increases transparency and auditability because it allows for the secure and transparent tracking of all transactions such as the filing of evidence case records thereby providing
An an additional layer of accountability then we are on continuing to develop TT gy and working with case Center which used to be case lines many attorneys in the Criminal Courts have taken the plunge and use case lines or case Center for their case preparation litigation support and evidence
Presentation and they have given very positive feedback I encourage all attorneys to become familiar with it as it will soon be required in the criminal high court and may be ordered in the Civil courts our case management information system TT Jim now has a new release known as CMS
X it’s now being rolled out in the courts and the criminal module of this version is being set up for the new Criminal procedure which will soon be required for the newly proclaimed aiper I have to commend our staff many of whom are doing job using skills that
Are way above those contemplated by the narrow gap of standardized contract job jobs approved by the public service agencies and for which they are not adequately compensated among those are our financial staff our HR staff and our ICT staff in this vein I wish to publicly
Mention the fact of which we are very proud that one of our ICT staff was recently given International recognition for the development of the ever verify which is our online document authentication system as he was presented with the prestigious award for innovation in core technology that is an example where the degree didn’t
Matter he is part of a team of developers on our staff who have been developing state-of-the-art Court software for this Judiciary I say this because I want to remind those who without any evidence or without any review are quick to berate all things low local and in particular the
Judiciary in the mistaken belief that everything foreign is better or everybody own better than ours Trinidad and Tobago folks is a real [Applause] place our people can stand and compete successfully on the best International stages I want to express my deep appreciation to our dedicated Court staff especially our judicial support officers [Applause]
Who who simultaneously handled several pieces of technology and manage copious amounts of information all the while drafting court orders their task and skill sets cannot be equated with the those of a clar two or three in the central civil service come on we need to pay these people we need to
Recognize I thank them for their diligence commitment and service and all the words you have been waiting for in conclusion I I trust that this there I say it necessarily abbreviated account of our stent stewardship will serve to inform and to clarify what the Judiciary is
Doing what we are going to be doing and why if I have been unable to dispel disbelief or doubt then at least I hope I would have discharged my duty to account we will of course continue during the rest of the term to inform
And update you as best we can we ask for your understanding and patience with our imperfections as as I close I must express my profound gratitude to team Judiciary the countless judicial officers Court executive management and support staff in all departments and at all levels who have worked together to
Make the past year and today’s proceedings a success it is not my achievement it is theirs I want to say a special thank you to our peer resolution volunteers who led us in intercessory prayer they are special yes today we could not go to the cathedral but the cathedral came to
Us uh I want to thank Bishop Berkeley for challenging us with his message uh my Lord Bishop we have taken it on board and um I undertake on my own behalf and my colleague colleagues um to to to pick up that mantle of responsibility and to discharge it to
The best of our ability and of course our thanks as well to Reverend Tenya for officiating as well I will I will thank in advance the officers who will shortly add the pizaz to the proceedings um with the parade but I think we can all agree that special me mention must be
Made of QED the Tre teners they have truly made this morning’s proceedings memorable finally I would like to thank you all of our guests including members of the bar and of the public for attending of course this could not happen without you so our gratitude goes
Out to you and to those listening online or via broadcast media for taking the trouble to listen thank you may God bless you and may God bless Trinidad and Tobago this court is a j all [Applause] rise so we just had the Marshal of the Court instructing members of the Judiciary to rise
As to the opposite of when he asked people to rise before which called the session to order now the reverse is happening and we’ve just heard many points from the Chief Justice Mr Justice Ivor Arie some of the things that he spoke about can be encapsulated under the umbrella term changes and challenges
Giving an idea of the lay of the land in terms of where the Judiciary is at at this point in time the environment that they’re dealing with even coming out of the pandemic keeping in mind that this is the first opening of the law term formal opening of the law term that has
Happened in person since 2018 2019 or rather 2019 2020 and looking at some of the challenges es that are being faced at this point in time some of them administrative that are working to sty some of the efforts to transform the Judiciary to an entity that can better
Serve uh in the manner that it’s supposed to one point that I really appreciate is that of looking at ways that ojts and interns can be me to feed into the program as the as the and this is after the tenure that they’ve had as an ogt or an intern has
Come to its natural end looking how and looking at how they can be brought into the system looking at challenges that deal with that sometimes people not having all of the information in terms of some of the information that they that they are disseminating with others the Chief Justice also spoke about the
Eligibility needs to acquire competencies in order to fill vacancies and making the point that kind of brought that home that looking at what is required in terms of bringing people on board if he wanted somebody in it he would not be able to hire Bill Gates at
This point in time because of the criteria as stipulated so really looking at ways that individuals would be able to become competent be able to function in the role in a role that is fit for purpose as opposed to just saying whether or not there is a ter level
Degree or a University degree to their name to their CV CV he the Chief Justice he apologized for the inconvenience of having to do work in San Fernando magistrates court at this point in time but we just saw moving out of the shot the wife of the Chief Justice this is as
We are preparing for the parade aspect of the formal opening of the Lord term 2023 2024 while we still have members filing outside one thing that was interesting we saw some participants or some viewers some onlookers coming from schools so we see schools in the Environ still finding
It important to make sure that their charges are present at an occasion like this and we are seeing members of the cohort decadry it will be the Defense Force this time Time Around in the earlier conversation we had the information that there is an interchange so one year it will be
Defense Force another year it will be the Police Service who are responsible for this parade and looking at the uniforms it validates the statement that was made that this year it is on the Defense Force to do the needful under the watchful eyes of major Benny
So we will be hearing the music that is played and on on on the point of Music the Chief Justice did not forget to say thank you to the three teners QED so we will be looking at some of what is taking place outside the National Academy for the Performing Arts
Momentarily when we get the sound up but we are really looking at this picturesque view around Port of Spain while we have been taking in the speech for the commencement or the commemoration of the LW term and there we see the Chief Justice IA Archie being escorted out of
Napa which has been designated a court for the day which is also one of the things that the Chief Justice would have spoken about in with the c of the Judiciary increasing in a manner that does not allow for the communication call to house them properly for an event of this
Magnitude where you have all coming together so we taking some of General salute present Up Shoulder order up of You La Pap spe Water man one right Right Get to the Right by left quick March E oh spe spe and we would just have seen the Chief Justice Mr Justice I for Archie after delivering his address coming outside of the National Academy for the Performing Art to inspect the parade that parade this year the Defense Force with major Benny who’s leading the way they have formed
The parade which is a 48 members strong the parade was inspected the parade was assembled on upper Frederick Street opposite Nappa and they were originally carded to make uh to Circle Memorial Park it seems as though that Parade route has changed a little bit but they will be returning to
The front of Napa where they will give where they will give a salute which will be received by the chief justice so we are looking forward to seeing that and some of the other things that the Chief Justice would have spoken of in his address in terms of setting the tone for
This year also speak to inculcating within members of the Judiciary a paradigm of lifelong learning so continuously upgrading skills building capacity as we enter this new world or this emerging world of artificial intelligence other types of Technology all to help provide services at a much higher level of efficiency
So we see the parade is now making its way back where they will give the Chief Justice his Salute N Bir Day come on come That E go look let’s go he e so the Chief Justice Mr Justice Iva Archie has received a salute from the parade and we so even though the parade was put on by the Defense Force this here with major Benny leading the way it seems as though we had a little bit of
The mounted BR getting in on the action Prov providing a maneuver showing some of the skill and dexterity of both the Riders and their seeds but this has been the commemoration of the opening of the 2023 2024 law term law term of the Supreme Court of judicature uh thank you so much to
Carlen cross children Court Administrator as well as Paula former register of the Supreme Court for helping to share some insight and information about what was taking place some of the things that we can look forward to we want to thank everyone who was part of the broadcast team and you
For actually tuning into this on TTT I’m DK rostar thank you so much for joining Us La yeah la la la la la
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