Eight new judges to be appointed soon

TIMES INT'L

Cognisant of the huge backlog of court cases, government said it will soon boost the complement of judges from 12 to 20, head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr Roger Luncheon said.
During a post-Cabinet press briefing on Wednesday, Dr Luncheon said there will be an increase in the statutory number of judges for the first time in three decades.
He explained that President Donald Ramotar will boost the present complement of 12 judges in the judiciary to 20, an increase of eight judges.

Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr Roger Luncheon
Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr Roger Luncheon

This will be done as government moves to introduce legislation that will allow appeals of Full Court rulings. Dr Luncheon said with the addition of more judges, the growing backlog of cases could be addressed, and therefore have an “accountable functioning” of the judiciary.
Previously, acting Chief Justice Ian Chang had slammed the lack of judges at the High Court, venting out “my job is to supervise work at the High Court, but if I don’t have judges, what I gon supervise”.
Chang had noted that he had informed the chancellor of judiciary about the situation, and has even recommended three prospective judges, but “don’t know what is the hitch”.
Late last year, Navindra Singh, Nareshwar Harnanan and Sandra Kurtzious were sworn in as judges. Following the oath and signing ceremony, President Ramotar congratulated the new appointees and highlighted their significance in dealing with the backlog of criminal matters. The president said that for a long time, he had been hearing about the shortage of judges, and hopes that with the appointment of the new judges, there would be a reduction in the holdup of cases.

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