EXTRAORDINARY DELAYS IN JUDICIARY HANDING DOWN DECISIONS? BLAME CORRUPTION, NOT WORKLOAD

The news, appearing this week in Barbados' government-controlled media, that the country's Supreme Court may be taking action against judges who wait months, if not years, to hand down rulings in cases that have already gone to trial or final hearing, is intended to confuse Bajans about the true cause of judicial delay. The fact that thousands of pending cases are in a Twilight Zone, where no written rulings have been entered by sitting trial or appellate judges, notwithstanding that the trial or oral argument in an appeal have long ago occurred, is NOT a reflection on major workload of cases; it's all about corruption, dear reader. There is no overload of cases assigned; it's just disinformation, intended to confuse laymen who are not familiar with true activities within the court system.

In truth and in fact, the corrupt power structure in one-party Barbados uses the intentionally dilatory court docket to punish Opposition party members and vocal supporters, individuals who have expressed dissatisfaction with the present government's insensitivity to the needs of its poorer citizens, those who have pointed out widespread attorney fraud and misconduct, and others who are perceived as threats to the continued reelection of certain senior government officials. Delaying a court decision, indefinitely, is a tool of corrupt leaders who wish to tamp down dissent, in any form, which is a Human Rights violation by definition, according to agencies of the United Nations.

It's not limited to Barbados, unfortunately; look at the MEHUL CHOKSI extradition case in neighboring Antigua, where a billion-dollar fraudster fugitive from India has been able, with government collusion, to evade justice at home for years. Also, one needs only look at the courts in the Republic of Malta, where an antiquated Production of Evidence court procedure is employed by the corrupt Labour Party leaders to delay justice ad infinitum, as it suits those in public office anxious to protect their own from justice. Look for such judicial misconduct in any autocratic state pretending to be a democracy; That's how they rein in their opponents.

This means individuals will often serve out their entire sentence of incarceration, before the appeals court hands down a possible decision of reversal in their case; civil plaintiffs with a valid cause of action often, after a successful trial of their claim, wait years for a written ruling, whilst the defendant, favored by the government in power, cheats justice, free to transfer his assets, and evade justice. Some may call these politically-sensitive cases, but I call them what they really are, indicia of corruption, on a grand scale. No wonder many foreign investors steer clear of Barbados, and countries like it; in the event of a dispute with locals, they know that there will be no justice for them in the courts.