REMARKS BY

THE HONOURABLE ALLYSON MAYNARD-GIBSON,

ATTORNEY GENERAL AND MINISTER OF

LEGAL AFFAIRS

AT

THE OPENING OF THE LEGAL YEAR 2007

OF

THE SUPREME COURT

MY LORD CHIEF JUSTICE

JUSTICES OF THE SUPREME
COURT

GOOD MORNING.

MAY
IT PLEASE, MY LORD

It is
with a deep consciousness of history and the importance of this institution,
the Supreme Court, established by Article 93 of The Constitution of The
Commonwealth of The Bahamas that as Attorney General and Leader of The Bar I
address this Court today, January 10, 2007.

My
Lord Chief Justice, when Bahamians look at you, the Head of The Judiciary in
The Commonwealth of The Bahamas, a man who is so accomplished, has
distinguished himself and is so very highly respected in so many arenas, nationally
and internationally we know that the struggles and travails of our forebears
was not in vain. We thank you My Lord for being the shining beacon inspiring
and encouraging this generation and those to come to excel.

We
have a strong a noble heritage that we must protect. The Bahamian public
demands that those charged with the responsibility for the administration of
justice do what is necessary to stamp out lawlessness wherever it rears its
ugly head in our society.  The
Bahamian public will not accept any dogma that brands us a lawless society. As the
Attorney General of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, I hear the voices loud and
clear that demand justice law and order and an end to crime. …the voices
loud and clear that say we are what our constitution defines us as…we  are a  Christian nation  …with an abiding respect for the
rule of law… and we will fight for the implementation of those ideals.

How
will we implement those ideals Infrastructure

My
Lord, I am delighted to say that the government has agreed that the Judicial
Complex will be built upon land extending from the existing Ministry of Foreign
Affairs to the old St.
John’s College
and including the existing parking lot at the Post Office Building.  My predecessor had extensive
consultations with the Judiciary on the design of the Complex. The plans were
designed for Victoria
Gardens.  EDAW, in its Town Planning exercise has
recommended that Victoria
Gardens would be a better
site for our Parliament. Architects at the Ministry of Works will consult with
the judiciary in the event that some redesign of the plans is necessary to
accommodate the complex at the new site.
I should indicate My Lord that preliminary indications are that the
state of the art Judicial Complex that will contain the Supreme Court, the
Court of Appeal and the Industrial Tribunal will cost approximately $70
Million.

My
Lord, after consultations with the President of the Industrial Tribunal it has
been agreed that,  pending the
completion of the Judicial Complex, the Industrial Tribunal will be relocated
to the Pride Rock Building
on East Street North.

My Lord it
has also been agreed that some Magistrates will be relocated to that building
and that space in that building and the vacated Magistrates Courts will be used
to establish full time Traffic Courts.

We also
hope within the first quarter of 2007 to relocate the Magistrates Court at Eight Mile Rock.  Also in 2007 it is intended to expand
the facilities of the Magistrates Courts in Abaco and Exuma.  These steps are necessary given the existing
and anticipated expansion of population in those areas.

My Lord, I
am happy to note that the integrated justice system about which you have spoken
in more than one of your annual addresses is to commence operations.  The Police System is working as a stand
alone system and is connected to the system at the Prison. I am advised that
the system at the Supreme Court is working and is ready to be connected to the
Office of the Attorney General and the Police.  The Office of the Attorney General is
completing the infrastructural improvements that will enable safe and reliable
intranet and internet communications. Our communications experts BTC and our
systems experts IBM advise that as soon as the Office of the Attorney
General’s improvements are completed, they can proceed to connect the
Supreme Court, the Police, the Prison and the Office of the Attorney General to
each other.

In
anticipation of the completion of the infrastructural integration, we are
working with the Registrar to engage a Consultant to implement recommendations
of Justice Strachan for the improvement and efficiency of the Registry and to guide
and complete the processes and systems necessary for the integrated justice
system to function as designed.

My Lord, strong
focus is being brought to completion of this project. If it functions as
designed, the immediate result will be more efficient utilization of court
time.  The system is designed to
prevent time conflicts in terms of double bookings of matters and lawyers and
other such inefficiencies that continue to plague the administration of justice
and cause grave inconvenience to litigants.

My Lord, as
a part of the thrust to increase efficiency through the use of technology, a
team member of The Merrill Corporation, now the owner of Smith Bernal, and the
company responsible for court reporting in the courts of the United Kingdom,
Ireland, Singapore and now consulting in Dubai, visited The Bahamas late last
year. Meetings were held with the Court Reporters, the Courts (including in Freeport) and the Bar. We
are now considering a proposal for a pilot project to evaluate the feasibility
of secure digital recording and storage of all judicial proceedings and how we
might provide for immediate availability of transcripts in selected
proceedings, to be agreed.

My Lord,
the state of art judicial complex, combined with the system of integrated
justice, and its processes, together with the immediate availability of
transcripts, are all designed to result in more efficient communication, work
flow and utilization of time for all charged with the responsibility of administration
of justice.

Integrated
Justice will also positively impact civil matters…

SJ
noble ideal…

SWIFT…
JUSTICE….these words are integrally linked…they cannot be
separated… …cannot have justice if it is delayed….

SJ…
requirement of PC and Bahamian public…rather than demonize it… Bahamian
public demand that those charged with the responsibility of the administration
of justice get behind it and make it work

It
can work…it must work… and Progress is being made by those already
dedicated to making it work…

We
all depend on it and everyone needs to support the concept…

We
note that there are systemic problems that have existed for decades.  These cannot be solved overnight.  This is why I invite:

1.  Defence
lawyers

2.  Investigators

3.  OAG charged
with the presentation of cases

Invite
us all to reflect on our duty to Bahamian public…ask ourselves whether we
are working together to do all  we can do to serve the Bahamian public

Together
we must address the backlog of cases and enable efficiency and the swift
hearing of matters before our courts…

Administration
of Justice is complex…served as CJ of Canada said when all involved seek
open communication, understanding and respect differing views and in that
spirit of mutual respect, seek solutions to the problems and challenges that will
inevitably arise

Thanks
to Chief Justice for his constant example of respect, open communication and
willingness to seek solutions…

My Lord,
significant changes are also being implemented at the Office of the Attorney
General. The team of dedicated professionals who I have the privilege to lead
is committed to the use of technology for greater efficiency.  We aim to provide the capacity for
persons with matters before us to go “on line” and track the
progress of their matters through our Chambers. We are committed to greater
accountability and transparency.

My Lord, I wish to thank you and
through you all of your brothers and sisters for the courtesies shown my team
at the Office of the Attorney General. I want to assure you that the hard
working professionals on my team and I take seriously our oath of
office…to truly and honestly demean ourselves  as counsel and attorney of the Supreme
Court in that and every other court in which we practice in The Bahamas.  We are not looking for notches on our
belts or for a thank you. We are trying, with the resources available to us, as
officers of the court, to serve the Bahamian public to the best of our
ability.

We’re not perfect and
where we fall short we encourage criticism…but criticism should be
positive and constructive criticism. …let us remember that we are all in
this together…this is our country… most of us have nowhere else to
go…

·
Thanks to Judiciary Staff…

·
Thanks to Snr Justice Allen

·
Thanks to Acting Justice Carroll

·
welcome Actg Justice Maynard

Look forward to the Report of
Judicial Review Commission for many reasons, including the hope that one of its
outcome will be to encourage more Bahamian counsel to be attracted to the
Bench.

·
Bereavements
at the Bar

Winston
Saunders

My
Lord, your calm judicial temperament, skillful leadership and example guided
the judiciary through recent high winds, strong currents and tumultuous seas.
Through it all, the courts have remained open, judges continue to work hard,
hearing matters and delivering judgments.

Personal
support and that of team and resources to partnership for strong system of
administration of justice.

We will continue to work in partnership
with the judiciary to ensure that justice is done and that every citizen may
exercise his or her constitutional right to have his or her matter heard before
the courts in a timely manner.

I wish you, My Lord, Justices, members of
the Bar, staff of the Judiciary, and to all present here, continuing good
health and a fruitful and effective year ahead.