More judges assigned to criminal courts and the addition of two more prosecutors would help move the backlog of cases so often complained about.
That is the assessment of Director of Public Prosecutions Donna Babb-Agard, QC, who said that tackling the build-up of cases in her office would be one of her first and most challenging tasks following her appointment this month.
“We have seven prosecutors in our office. Ideally, I would like to have nine. I think that we could get a lot further with the disposal of cases if we had nine, but I understand we have to work within the financial constraints that we have,” she said.
“Yes, I have made a request for additional prosecutors and I would like to see more judges assigned to the criminal bench. However, I also fully appreciate that the judges we presently have are assiduously balancing their heavy civil and criminal case loads.”
The department has more than 500 cases on the calendar, which includes about 18 murders.
The backlog of criminal and civil cases, which often take more than five years to work through the system, has drawn heavy criticism, especially from the Caribbean Court of Justices, but Babb-Agard said the situation was not peculiar to Barbados.
“The hardest task is battling the backlog. That is something every Director of Public Prosecutions has to undertake the minute they are appointed.
“That’s what every prosecutor in the office, whether it is the head of the department or not, is aspiring to do, every day – reduce the backlog of cases,” she said.
Babb-Agard declined to put a time frame on how long it should take for cases to be completed.
“There are so many variables because of the amount of stakeholders involved – from the time an accused is charged until the disposal of the case . . . and that disposal could involve the Court of Appeal or the Caribbean Court of Justice – so I wouldn’t want to give a time limit.
“I know that there are judges that have said – and defence counsel agree – that cases should not exceed two years in the system, but throughout the Caribbean, we have had delays. It is not peculiar to Barbados, contrary to popular belief by certain quarters in the Caribbean.
“This is the situation that you would find in any criminal justice system because there are limited human resources and cases may not always be ready for trial.”
In discussing recent pronouncements from the Caribbean Court of Justice, Babb-Agard explained: “We certainly have to work within the provisions of our legislation. So any decisions elsewhere that suggest that the Director of Public Prosecutions or the judges can go outside of what the laws stipulates is not sound reasoning . . .and unless the laws are amended, we can only follow the letter of the law.” (AC)
