Barbara Gayle, Senior Court Reporter

The Hon Seymour Panton, president of the Court of Appeal, commenting on the pressing issue of the shortage of jugdes in the judicial system and tardy judgment, says he has put a timeframe in which judgments must be handed down. However, the court has been unable to stick to the schedule because the system requires another panel of judges.The Sunday Gleaner that the Court of Appeal has seven judges, but it needs another panel of three to make the timeframe workable.

Dispose of simpler appeals

"Our aim is to dispose of simpler appeals within three months and have the complex appeals disposed of within six months," Justice Panton said.

The problem with tardy judgments, he said, is that Appeal Court judges hardly have time to write judgments other than at night or on weekends.

He gave the assurance that as soon as the additional three judges to form the extra panel were appointed, the Appeal Court would be "on top of things." He went on: "We have been asking for many, many years for more judges, but it was just in October last year that the Government gave a signal that the request will be granted." Now, he said, it was just a question of when the judges were going to be appointed.

More judges

He is hoping that by the next financial year, the Court of Appeal would get at least one more judge.

"Our hours out of court are spent reading cases, thinking and writing judgments," he explained. "We are doing yeoman's service, considering the pittance we are paid in comparison to what we could have been earning in private practice."

Salary

Asked whether low salary was the reason lawyers were not going into government service, he replied: "People laugh when they hear what we are being paid."

He was very pleased, he said, with the work the judges were doing in the Court of Appeal.

"They are working over and above what is expected of them and that is the reason we need an additional panel." He also praised the support staff at the Court of Appeal.

As of now, vacancies in the judiciary will be advertised and the applicants interviewed. Justice Panton disclosed that the decision was taken recently at a meeting of the Judicial Service Commission. It is being done in the interest of transparency, he said.