Tomorrow’s ceremonial opening of the law term will for the second year be overshadowed by the turmoil that has gripped the Judiciary since mid-2017.
As Chief Justice Ivor Archie leads the ceremonies to officially launch the 2019-2020 term of the Supreme Court of Judicature the atmosphere is sure to be heavy with the many unresolved issues hanging over his tenure in that high office.
Hard to ignore, however, is that he continues to preside over a bitterly divided judiciary—a fact that many prominent jurists have frequently called attention to over the past two years.
One outspoken critic, Israel Khan, SC, has already indicated that he will be boycotting tomorrow’s ceremonies.
Even if Justice Archie makes no reference to the ongoing issues in the Judiciary—and the expectation is that he will not—those problems have not, and will not, go away. He should be conscious of that fact that this controversy weighs heavily on his legacy.
Certainly, as T&T’s eighth Chief Justice and the youngest to assume that position when he was sworn in on January 24, 2008, Justice Archie should not want his tenure to be defined by a controversy which is hampering the very important work of reform needed for more efficient administration of justice at all levels in the system.
As he presides over this crucial arm of the State, the forum for the resolution of legal disputes, it is ironic that he sits at the centre of an unresolved dispute will not go away no matter how hard he tries to ignore it.
Justice Archie has spent the last two law terms doggedly refusing to confront allegations of wrongdoing or the no-confidence motion in him and then members of the Judicial and Legal Service Commission (JLSC) over the Marcia Ayers-Caesar controversy. He has been at loggerheads with the Law Association of T&T (LATT).
This is not a situation that will inspire public confidence in the justice system.
While on the surface it will seem like business as usual as the law term proceeds—cases will be heard, rulings will be delivered—the current impasse has serious implications for judicial independence, the right of citizens to fair and impartial justice.
For as long as these matters involving the Chief Justice remain unresolved, there will be question marks over the ability of the Judiciary to exercise its role completely free of external interference.
This is, therefore, an appeal to Justice Archie and all other players in this impasse, which has dragged on for too long, to re-double efforts to resolve this matter once and for all.
As it is, the justice system has been struggling to clear a backlog in criminal cases going back many years which has been the main contributor to the overcrowding of prisons. This impasse has made the situation so much worse.
In this matter, Justice Archie, silence and inaction can no longer be your options.