Barbados Bar Association Boosts Efforts to Reduce Criminal Case Backlog in Collaboration with US-UK Initiative

The Barbados Bar Association (BBA) is ramping up efforts to assist the government in reducing the backlog of criminal cases clogging the judicial system. The initiative follows the latest in an ongoing barrage of criticism by the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) over ongoing court delays.

The Bar on Friday highlighted the recently-held inaugural Criminal Law Seminar at the Wyndham Grand Barbados Sam Lord’s Castle Resort, supported by the US-UK Criminal Justice Reform Project, as one of the strategies being used to equip younger attorneys to handle more complex cases.

The partnership is aimed at advancing the transformation of the criminal justice system.

Convenor of the Bar’s Criminal Law Committee, Martie Garnes, noted that given the limited number of attorneys practising criminal law, the association is committed to training and mentoring more junior lawyers to take on serious cases that would typically be adjourned when senior counsel are unavailable.

Garnes explained that the adjournment of cases tends to delay their completion, thereby adding to the backlog.

“The reality is, we are training more attorneys to get into criminal law, and once you have more attorneys in that area… it is basically going to come from a mentorship programme where you have the more senior attorneys bringing through the younger attorneys,” he told Barbados TODAY on Friday.

“It is not going to have an immediate impact…. It is almost like an investment. We are trying to invest in the future of the Bar, so that, at least within six months to a year, we will start to see younger attorneys doing the more major offences such as assault, possession of ammunition, possession of firearms—those types of offences.”

Garnes added that all the senior counsel participated substantially in the recent seminar and have committed to helping younger attorneys, passing along the knowledge they have gained.

Garnes said the aim is not only to build quantity but quality lawyers who can render representation similar to that of their seniors, giving clients the confidence they deserve.

The intensive training seminar brought together just over 100 delegates, including judges of the Court of Appeal and High Court of Barbados, senior and junior attorneys from the Bar and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, police prosecutors from the Barbados Police Service, and recent law graduates.

(EJ)