Attorney General Dale Marshall says Government has no intention of further amending the law dealing with removal of judges.
In 2019, Section 84(5) of the Constitution was amended to provide that a judge may be removed from office for a delay of more than six months in delivering judgments. At that time, faced with a massive backlog in cases and complaints that judges were taking too long to render decisions, Government made the change to hold judges accountable.
However, this matter was tested two weeks ago when a claimant sought damages against former Chief Justice Sir Patterson Cheltenham for failing to deal with a complaint against a judge who had taken in excess of ten years to render a decision in a civil matter.
Justice Patrick Wells, who heard the matter, ruled that the determination to institute removal proceedings against a judge for failing to deliver a decision after more than six months was strictly up to the discretion of the Chief Justice.
He stated: “The discretion that the court identifies in Subsection 84(5) of the Constitution is a very critical one for the Honourable Chief Justice, as the ultimate act of removing a judge from office under the Constitution is a momentously grave and weighty matter that should not be triggered for every potential infraction.”
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