And while health safety for zone workers is a legitimate concern, the ones raised by the acting chief justice Michelle Arana at the ceremonial opening of the Supreme Court were equally so. In an especially bold address - she called out the government for a proposed piece of legislation which demands that judges produce written judgements within a fixed time, while cutting the judiciary's budget and limiting the number of judges on the bench.
Today, the shadow minister for the Attorney General's Office commended the CJ and criticised the AG's response:
Hon. Sheena Pitts - UDP Senator "The UDP through this medium commends the acting chief justice for her candid and truthful remarks. It is most unfortunate that the Hon. Attorney General's remark in the response were laced with rhetoric purpose for political mileage and impendency which undressed and perhaps demoralized an already demoralized judiciary. The UDP further denounces the apparent emphasis on the pending legislation punitive at its core which leaves in its way the inference of an unlimited executive open to interfering with the independent judiciary. It must be and cannot be over emphasized by this UDP that the rule of law is immutable and a sacrosanct principle on which rest an independent judiciary. Interference with the judiciary simply cannot be countenance in our democracy, not now, not ever. The UDP strongly believes that the government is compounding the judiciary's problem, it is compounding it by one, under funding in, two prolonging the under staffing of it and three, undermining the very institution through its attempt to trespass and direct how the judiciary manages itself through legislation that offends its independence meant to punish and further demoralize judicial officers in their prevailing working conditions. The UDP therefore holds the government accountable to solving the problem in short order."
