Barbados Judicial System Faces Heavy Criticism for Backlogs: Calls for Reform to Address Delays in Civil and Criminal Courts

The slow pace of Barbados’ judicial system has been under heavy criticism with particular focus on the enormous backlogs in both the criminal and civil courts.

Back in 2021, a member of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) Justice Denys Barrow issued a scathing rebuke of the island’s justice system which is marked by inordinate delays.

On that occasion, it was the local Appeals Court that was criticised after it took four years to deliver a ruling in a real estate dispute. While Justice Barrow said the delay did not prejudice the lower court’s decision, he described the hold-up as serious and unacceptable.

Justice Barrow cited Sections 18 and 84 of the Barbados Constitution relating to the delay in the delivery of judgments.

The repeated criticism of the local judiciary had become a recurring theme from the CCJ benches. Whether civil or criminal matters, justice delayed was deemed justice denied.

One can deduce that the pressure coming from the Port-of-Spain-headquartered final appeals court, of which Barbados was an original signatory and advocate, coupled with complaints from members of the Barbados Bar, were catalysts for many of the reforms and actions to address the chronic backlog of cases.

Recently retired Chief Justice Sir Patterson Cheltenham left his highly successful private practice to take up the top post, promising to boldly take the rather archaic system and breathe some modernity and efficiency into the processes.

Alas, Sir Patterson demitted office, lamenting that processes required more time, resources and reforms to achieve what he had envisioned.

In May, new Chief Justice Leslie Haynes was sworn in, and like his predecessor, announced key priorities, chief among which were understanding the issue of delayed decisions and court backlogs.

While focus has been on criminal matters and resolving them, the backlog of civil cases to be adjudicated and judgments delivered, is said to be enormous.

Some have been languishing in the system for over a decade. Some claimants and respondents have died, some judges have retired. Few words would describe the situation other than a mess.

King’s Counsel and former President of the Antigua & Barbuda Industrial Court Philip Pilgrim was moved to write earlier this year in the media his concerns about the local judiciary.

“Nobody who files a case in court in the civil division should experience inexcusable delay involving many adjournments before the case is heard.

“People are now experiencing great challenges to obtain justice in Barbados in a reasonable time long before they become ill or die,” Pilgrim articulated.

We suspect that if Mr Pilgrim were to add the Employment Rights Tribunal to his assessment sheet, the picture would be even more depressing.

A more optimistic view of the local judiciary may be offered by Attorney General Dale Marshall, who has the unenviable task of righting a ship that seems terribly adrift.

He will likely cite the additional judges appointed in the criminal and civil sides to address the backlog. The introduction of sanctions on judicial officers who take longer than six months to deliver judgments (a provision that has not been actioned despite official complaints lodged by attorneys) and the push towards mediation.

This week, the state went even further by passing the Criminal Procedure Amendment Act, providing the option of judge-only trials or choose to be tried by a jury.

“Every day we have magistrates across our system making legal decisions on their own. We see innocence or guilt decided by a single person without a jury, and no one has complained about that. This has the potential to get rid of some of the backlog,” the Attorney General argued.

In what seems to be a full-on effort to tackle the extensive problems in our judicial system and particularly in our criminal courts, Barbados must also examine the high rate of recidivism.

Barbados, according to data is listed among the top three states with the highest level of recidivism in the region, with rates of more than 50 percent.

Prison in Barbados has become a revolving door for too many of our citizens, and if that can be tackled, we would effectively solve two major issues – crime and the criminal court backlog as fewer cases would be added to those clogged in the system.