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Basseterre, St. Kitts, March 13, 2017 (SKNIS):  The opening of the new second high court at the Sir Lee Llewellyn Moore Judicial Complex in Basseterre, St. Kitts, on Monday, March 13, is expected to expedite the dispensation of justice said the Attorney General, the Honourable Vincent Byron Jr.

 

The attorney general expressed his delight on such an accomplishment, as it was important for the government to have a second high court in the St. Kitts circuit.

 

“I feel that the government is justly proud of having to deliver one of our core promises that was made when we ran for office and that is, that we would have another court chamber to be able to assist in the early dispensing of matters before the court,” he said. “I am proud for a lot of different reasons, one of them is that fact that it has a number of innovations that we believe most other courts in our sub region do not have. It is prepared to be able to have electronic display of evidence for the bench, the judges, as well as for the lawyers. It allows us to have video conferencing. We would have to maybe move to enact some legislation to allow the delivery of evidence offsite. But there are a number of technological innovations that we are justly proud of in this court. It is not as large as the other chamber but it is compact and we have been able to do a lot here.”

 

Attorney General Byron described the opening as historic and said that it forms part of the government’s good governance agenda.

 

“It very much fits in because it means that we can have people have greater access to justice where their matters can be dealt with in a more prompt manner. And once you have the justice system functioning properly and in a way that is fair, that is effective and efficient, and people can have confidence in that, then it assists us in terms of the economy and it assists us in terms of peace and good order in the country,” said the attorney general. “We believe that good governance is not just about restraining and constraining public officials, but the way in which all aspects of what we do in a country can be done in a very positive and efficient way.”

 

At the third in a series of town hall meetings dubbed “Good Governance and Accountability for Prosperity” on Tuesday, February 07, the attorney general spoke highly of the second high court, noting that having one allows for the first time for St. Kitts to have two resident judges to reduce the backlog of cases in order to speed up the process by which litigants can face each other, among other important matters.

Minister Byron said that the new chambers will be used later this week as the court of appeal would have the sitting of dual panels.  He noted that Chief Justice Janice Pereira is expected to appoint a second high court judge shortly that would allow for the scheduling of matters for the court. The second high court chamber is expected to be fully operational by April, 2017.