In the eyes of Magistrate Deborah Holder, “court is a place where you see the country as it is”.
In 28 years of exposure to different areas of the law she has indeed been exposed to the realities of Barbados, in her roles as attorney at law, prosecutor and for the most part as magistrate.
She told Easy magazine: “I wanted to be a teacher and that lasted with me throughout primary school. When I went to secondary school, I think I still felt that way. Coming on towards the last years at Washington High School I was thinking of something else and I said perhaps I should be a doctor and then I realized I was not a science student, I was really an arts student. So I thought just practically what else would I do, and I decided on law.”
In 1987 she made history when as Crown Counsel she became the first female prosecutor in the Department of Public Prosecutions (DPP). Five years later she was appointed a magistrate and has since served in every magisterial jurisdiction in the island.
Working in the DPP was “a rewarding experience” that gave Holder the opportunity to see aspects of Barbados as it is.
She explained: “It opened my eyes because I believe I was certainly a bit sheltered from a lot of what’s going on . . . that (the DPP) was my exposure to some aspects of life in Barbados and what people have to go through.” In theDPP she benefited from the guidance of experts like Mr Garvey Husbands, a highly respected, experienced prosecutor.
“A prosecutor has got to be fair because even though you are acting on behalf of the Crown, you are considered to be a minister of justice and therefore you have to do what is right even though you may have strong feelings about a particular matter. You put your feelings aside in order to ensure that justice is done.” Holder said.
After leaving school, she did explore the teaching profession, teaching at St Silas Primary School, having completed the induction course at Erdiston Teachers’ Training College.
In 1977 she entered the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus to study sociology, political science and law and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree with Lower Second Class Honours.
She also went to work in the Public Service for a short time before returning to full-time studies at the Cave Hill Campus. After graduating with a Bachelor of Laws degree with Upper Second Class Honours, she proceeded to the Hugh Wooding Law School in Trinidad, where she obtained her Certificate in Legal Education.
Persuaded that “the study of law is not enough, you need to get out there and deal with the practical”, she opted to spend a few months in private practice in the Chambers of the late attorney at law Melvin Atwell.
Early in her magisterial career, Holder established a reputation as a tough magistrate. Her admonitions to accused persons coming before her were often cited in media reports. Remarking on this to Easy she said: “If people get the impression that I am a tough magistrate, then I am tough, but that is not all. I think I try to be fair to people, but one has to realize that this whole thing is about balancing rights. Whereas accused persons have rights, complainants also have rights and one has to try to find that balance. Decisions have to be taken in the best interest of all parties.”
In arriving at a verdict, her position is always “let the law be your guide”. However, she explained, that there were qualified agencies, such as the Probation Department, to which she turned when she considered a situation merited their intervention.
“If accused people want to be helped, they can be helped; but there are times when accused people are not trying to help themselves, and that is a significant part of the whole problem.”
Over two decades on the bench Holder has tried a gamut of cases and noted that the same kinds of cases were coming before her as those she had prosecuted. But “having all these years now worked in the system you see many more firearm and drug cases.”
How does she prepare herself mentally each day for the job? “I don’t think I go through any special preparation to face the day’s work. It is what I do and I go out there and do it,” Holder answered.
She however pointed out that, where necessary, a lot of preparation for decisions was done at home but “when you are doing new charges you have to come and face the day because you have no idea what you are going to be faced with”.
Sitting face to face talking with this intense professional, there is no mistaking how deeply involved she is in her job and she conceded: “You have to take it all in stride otherwise it will overwhelm you. The job can be stressful because it is demanding.”
Hers is not a normal work day. It goes through from morning when she begins trying cases until it is time to bring the day’s proceedings to an end. Only then comes the lunch break and she pointed out the length of the day “depends on what you have”.
At the end of the day she goes home for a measure of relaxation – reading, listening to the radio, especially the talk shows and call-in programmes, and her favourite music.
Holder grew up in Bush Hall with three siblings and she told Easy, “I don’t think being a magistrate has affected my relationships with people I grew up with. I still get along well with people I have known from way back.”
However, she admitted that “being a magistrate does affect your life and does affect your relationships, generally speaking because you cannot get involved in everything”.
“The magistrate has responsibility for almost everything you can think of. You come before the magistrate for almost everything that happens to you – if you want to get married, if there is conflict in the household, if you have a little business and you want a liquor licence you come before the magistrate – so because of that you find that everywhere you go people see you, approach you, but you still have to be very careful.”
“You must keep your guard up at all times. You have to be very circumspect. You have to keep some respectful distance otherwise you may be accused of bias.” she added.
Asked to describe herself, Holder paused, smiled broadly and then said deliberately: “I think I am a pleasant person. I am easy to get along with. I am pretty easy going. That’s how I see myself.”
Her dress style is characterised by simplicity and it is definitely conservative for work. “I like what looks good on me” and she trusts her mirror as her best critic. On the day of this interview she is wearing a well-tailored dark grey skirt and black jacket over a black and white long-sleeved shirt still unwrinkled at the end of a day’s work.
“If I look in my mirror and it looks good to me, then okay, I wear it.”
For her “meritorious judicial service”, Holder was awarded the Barbados Service Star in the 2013 National Independence Honours.