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Just after 5:00 pm yesterday members of the Bar Association received a notice that "some of the High Court matters scheduled over the course of the remaining two weeks of this session may be postponed due to extenuating circumstances."
The notice advised attorneys to "confirm with the Marshall assigned to each Justice to determine whether their matters will be affected."
While it is not unusual for matters set before one judge to be rescheduled for personal reasons, this notice alludes to a wholesale adjournment of matters before several judges over the next two weeks.
Our inquiries with Registry staff reveal that the disruption is caused by Chief Justice Blenman's decree that each judge prepares detailed end-of-year reports on their disposal of cases.
Court staff say the Chief Justice has been hinting at applying to the CCJ when a vacancy arises next year, and her ladyship is busy compiling court performance statistics likely to burnish her CV.
Observers speculate that it might also explain why the Chief Justice does not actually sit on any cases. If her judgments are overturned on appeal to the CCJ, it could look bad on her application to join that court.
