Dear Members:

The Law Association has convened as one of the specialised committees the Criminal Justice Sector Reform Committee. The Committee is chaired by the President of the Association, Douglas Mendes SC and includes a number of criminal practitioners who are actively practicing in the criminal arena.

The Council has made the issue of reform of the criminal justice sector a major priority issue for this Law Association for the 2017-2018 term. The Council intends to interact with the various stakeholder in the criminal justice sector in an attempt to bring to the attention of those stakeholders issues that are affecting the delivery of justice within the system.

We are inviting members to open a line of communication with the association so that we may be better able to articulate issues that are affecting the delivery of criminal justice. As part of our mandate we will be seeking to meet with stakeholders such as, the upper and lower Judiciary, Police, Prisons, Legal Aid etc. to articulate any concerns that are raised with us.

To date we have identified a number of issues that have been raised with us and that we are currently looking at. We include them in this email one, for your views and comments and secondly to extend an invitation to all members to raise with us any issues that you wish for us to put on the agenda when we meet with the various stakeholders.

Members can submit their suggestions via a form on the LATT website, (see below).

The current issues include:

Processing of Bail and lack of consistency of practice by JPs and Clerks of the Peace

The Association has had a number of concerns raised about the length of time that it is taking for persons who are granted bail to have such bail processed by Clerk/s or Justices of the Peace. We are also informed that there is a wide disparity in the way that sureties are approved and the prerequisites for having a person approved as a bailor. Finally, the issue of cash bail and how it is administered appears to many practitioners to be arbitrary.

Adequacy of Court Facilities

It should come as no surprise that there is a level of dissatisfaction as to the adequacy of some of the facilities being presently used in the criminal courts. We have had specific complaints in relation to the layout and functionality of the Chaguanas Magistrates’ Court. Other issues include what appears to be a policy decision to prevent and exclude lawyers from visiting their clients in custody at the Magistrates’ Court. Can we have your views and comments on this and any other matters in relation to court facilities.

Legal Aid

The Association has received complaints that practitioners retained by Legal Aid and Advisory Authority are not being paid. This was confirmed by several Council members. Can we hear from the members as to their experiences on this issue and any other issues they may have in relation to the Legal Aid system?

Criminal Procedure Rules

As we all know the rules came into effect earlier this year and have been in place for almost three months. We are very keen to have practitioners let us know their views and experience in the way in which these rules have been implemented. We have had mixed responses thus far on this issue. There seems to be a view that many of the courts are not applying the rules and in those courts where they are being applied, there is a view that the inability of the Prosecution both at the High Court and Magisterial level to comply with their obligations in a timely manner is undermining the application of the rules. What are your views?

As mentioned above, members are not confined only to the issues raised above but are encouraged to make available to us your views, suggestions, comments in relation to matters relating to the Criminal justice sector. Once we have these views, we will be in a position to discuss these issues within the Committee and determine the best strategy for raising these concerns with the appropriate stakeholders.  We look forward to your response.

Regards,
RP
Rajiv Persad
Vice President
Law Association of Trinidad and Tobago