( l - r ) Phipps and McCalla

Howard Campbell, Gleaner Writer

JUST BEFORE sentencing Linton Guy in the Supreme Court five years ago for the March 2000 murder of Danny Peters, Justice Zaila McCalla addressed Jamaica's crime situation.

She said deviant youth, like Guy, must pay the consequences for breaking the law.

Guy, 21 years old at the time, was given a lengthy sentence and will not be eligible for parole until he has served 18 years in prison. A tough-talking McCalla said he got off easy.

"Your attorney said that your confession was better late than never (so) you made a wise choice," she told Guy. "If the jury had tried and found you guilty, the sentence would have been much more."

First female Chief Justice

Such stridency impressed Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller enough to appoint McCalla Jamaica's first female Chief Justice last Wednesday. She takes office June 27, succeeding Lensley Wolfe who steps down one day earlier, after 1l years in the post.

The reception to McCalla's appointment has been generally positive the Jamaican Bar Association expressed reservations about the selection policy for the country's highest legal office.

"While it is not required by the Constitution, it is the view of the Bar that the appointment of the Chief Justice is of such importance to the judiciary and the functioning of our system of justice, that the association and other relevant stakeholders should be consulted for its opinion and/or asked to name possible candidates," Bar Association President, John Leiba said in a statement.

Queens Counsel, Frank Phipps Q.C., who has been a vocal advocate of justice reform in Jamaica, said McCalla has a tough job ahead of her.

Tough job ahead

"The first thing she has to do is make sure the people of Jamaica have confidence in the (justice) system," Phipps told The Gleaner. "There has also got to be openness in the administration of justice, which includes appointments (of judges) to the bench."

McCalla, a mother of three, is in her mid-50s. She has been practising law since 1976 when she became the first female graduate of the Norman Manley Law School. She was also admitted to the Bar that year.

McCalla has done the rounds, serving as Clerk of the Courts, Crown Counsel and Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions.

In 1996, she was made a Supreme Court judge and in 2004 was appointed to the Court of Appeal. It was only the second time that a woman was assigned to that level.

Controversial cases

She has presided over some controversial, and interesting, cases. Such as ruling against the Portmore Citizens Advisory Council's challenge to government's imposing of a toll for the new highway in May last year.

Six months later, she upheld an Atlanta, Georgia court's decision to award David Panton "physical custody" of his son. Panton's ex-wife, Lisa Hanna, had made a submission to the local Court of Appeal to have the stance overturned.

In June 2000, McCalla ruled that the government should award $2.2 million in damages to Clinton Bernard, a lithographer who was shot in the head by a policeman at a telephone booth in 1990.