Building public confidence in the judiciary, the aim of new programme launched
A public education and engagement project is aiming to provide the public with improved access to justice while also providing a better understanding of how the judiciary works. The programme which is supported by the Canadian government through the Jurist Project was launched virtually on Wednesday. The awareness and engagement programme also has its genesis as part of the judiciary’s communications strategy but the COVID-19 pandemic forced its early use, “the pandemic reordered our communications strategy,” Chief Justice (ag) Roxane George explained, “it would be fortuitous that we were already engaged, because the working group was able to commence a campaign entitled, We can still hear you,” she said. That campaigned has made judicial officers more visible as they explain to the public, the courts were still very much working.
Chancellor of the Judiciary (ag) Justice Yonette Cummings Edwards said that the judiciary needed to inform citizens of the changes, “Whenever anything changes the ability of the courts to hear any matters that concerns our citizens, their families, their property, their business or their relationships or even the state, the courts must find a way to respond quickly, safely and efficiently,” Justice Cummings-Edwards posited. Even though some aspects of physical access to the courts and their services were affected, the court ensured that it took “swift actions so that justice was neither delayed nor denied,” she pointed out, “We ensured that even though one had to maintain social distancing there was no legal distance between you and the court and your matter to be heard, there was no legal isolation either,” she maintained.
Meanwhile, Chief Justice George singled out domestic violence applications which she said fall in the category of “urgent matters” and require special attention due to the risks faced by women and children, it was especially important that the court remained accessible to victims she said. The Chief Justice explained too that the recommencement of jury trials had to be done promptly to ensure that the accused, especially those in custody had their trials “conducted in a reasonable time as mandated by the constitution”.
The judiciary had to activate its website to be able to ensure its commitment to the public, Registrar Sueanna Lovell pointed out, “we quickly launched supremecourt.gy to provide general information and to implement an e-filing mechanism,” the registrar explained. Canadian High Commissioner Lilian Chatterjee commended the programme which is supported by her government, “if the public does not understand the value of the judicial branch they would not be willing to support it through their taxes and other funding or serve their role on juries or trust the decisions that come from the system,” the High Commissioner pointed out.
The programme has been described as critical by Gloria Richards, Director of the Jurist Project as she said the project will work towards developing the “capacities of judiciaries to undertake public education engagement initiatives and programme that would redound to the benefit to all judicial stakeholders,” Richards said.
