A.G. says Bar versus Bench issue must stop

Wilfred Elrington

In his presentation at the opening of the Supreme Court Attorney General Wilfred "Sedi" Elrington raised several issues with the Bar Association-specifically, the need for continuous education and a return to its traditional role. According to Elrington, it cannot be Bar versus Bench.

Wilfred Elrington, Attorney General

"My lord with respect to the private Bar, we can give no account as to why they have to date not launched any sustained initiative for education of members of the private abr. There can be no doubt that that can conduce very greatly to the efficient disposition of cases in our courts and will reduce the delay and certainly will reduce drastically the extortionist cost of legal services to the public. While it cannot be undoubted that the judiciary is unquestionably under resourced the success of our judiciary is going to be dependent largely on the competence and the industry of the practitioners before it and of the judges that man the courts. I would like to associate myself with the call made by your lordship to the Bar in your address last year, for them to uphold their traditional role of upholders of the bench as you have rightly pointed out under our inherited system of law. Whenever the bench has come under attack the Bar has come to its aid as a counter measure to preserve the integrity of the judicial system. It is not the tradition that we come from that in fact the bench is attacked by the bar that is an anathema for our tradition."

A hundred and thirty-eight persons, the majority charged with murder, are on remand; thirty-eight do not have legal representation.��

Channel 5