A week ago, Justice Jacob Wit, a Judge of the Caribbean Court of Justice, participated in a Seminar at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre on “Rethinking Criminal Justice.” It was a timely and important conference because our criminal justice system, like our appeal system, is in a state of collapse. This is no exaggeration because […]
Tag Archives: jury
THE JURY SYSTEM NEEDS TO BE ABOLISHED NOT REFORMED
I have written twice over the past year urging that the jury system should be abolished. On the first occasion several lawyers, including the Attorney General, disagreed with the views I expressed. On the second occasion I repeated my views in an article publicizing the remarks of Chief Justice Ivor Archie of Trinidad and Tobago […]
THE JURY SYSTEM HAS FAILED GUYANA
In early June last year I wrote an article entitled ‘Abolish Jury Trials.’ I argued then, and repeat those arguments now, that jury trials ought to be abolished because convictions are now rarely obtained from juries even in the most glaring cases. The Attorney General and several criminal lawyers disagreed with my suggestion and views. […]
ABOLISH JURY TRIALS
In 1978 the PNC administration proposed the Administration of Justice Bill which sought, among other things, to increase the number of offences which could be tried summarily, that is to say, before a Magistrate. These offences which were known as indictable offences, were heard before a Judge and jury. There was great opposition to the […]