Attorney at Law, Wayne Harrow, has expressed concern over the situation with the District Court in Vieux Fort, declaring that the institution has not functioned for the past eighteen months.
“I must say that we are fed-up in the South,” Harrow told St. Lucia Times.
“This is causing problems with litigation and delivering justice to persons who have been accused. Persons who have made complaints to the police and have matters in Court have not been given an opportunity to have their matters heard,” the Attorney at Law stated.
He said having no Court or Crown Prosecution office operating in the Second District Court compounds the problem.
“Although the Court Office and the Crown Prosecution Service have actually moved to a new office, they cannot function because I believe there’s some air quality issue,” Harrow explained.
He said parties must go to Castries for Family Court matters while maintenance payments, traffic court, and fines are being dealt with in Soufriere or Castries.
Harrow noted that the Vieux Fort Court hears serious matters, including possession of firearms, possession of controlled substances, indecent assault, and cases of wounding.
“In terms of the authorities, I get feedback occasionally from the Court Office workers and from the Crown Prosecution workers, but in terms of officially, we have not, and when I say we, the lawyers have not heard anything from any person in authority,” he told St. Lucia Times.
Harrow said that included the DPP’s Office, the Attorney General’s Office, the Ministry of Justice, the Office of the Prime Minister, and the Office of the Chief Justice.
“There’s nothing official that has been released to any of us or even the litigants, so we are basically on a wait and see right now,” the Attorney at Law stated.
And he observed that people need closure regarding their court cases.
“Some of them have paid a lot of money to get bail. Their passport is in the hands of the Court. They are restricted from travelling. They have to report at least once or twice or three times a week to the police station and some matters are really old matters – five years or more and they cannot be heard,” he observed.
Harrow told St. Lucia Times that individuals want to know the outcome of their cases, whether they would be found guilty or not, pay a fine, be on probation, or end up at Bordelais Correctional Facility (BCF).
“They want closure to the accusations against them or the accusations they have made against other people,” he declared.
That’s the way to do things now …. no response or action from the “powers that be”- put them on notice on the “newspaper”!!
You Cannot make money .Well Change your Peofession
Mr Harrow if you think this is bad you should try and visit the Land registry in Castries. They way they treat people especially lawyers clerks is total disregard and disrespect. They say that the places is closed at one pm and cut off time is 12;30. before it is even quarter past twelve the security already telling people you cant enter and the place is supposed to close at one. Dont ask for getting your work done in there its a long useless wait and public have to wait for long hours just to get one land register. They putting and making all sorts of useless rules but they not putting any rules to make themselves efficient in there.
The lawyer is is correct..
We need the labour minister to enact a fair minimum wage of $10+ per every to all the working poor and overworked and underpaid people’..
We must see a change in our l
The whole country is in a mess promise better but receiving the worse.
Sad to say but nothing is operating in this country, I strongly think we made a big error in putting theses round pegs in the square holes of government. What a waste, Lucia going low low low.