‘By my estimation, if a party managed to get a decision within four years, they should consider themselves lucky’
By Neela Ramsundar
WHENEVER a party is unhappy with a decision made in the Magistrate/District Court, in or the High Court, that party can appeal the decision before the Court of Appeal.
Unfortunately, though, there is much delay between the date of filing your Notice of Appeal to being handed down a decision. By my estimation, if a party managed to get a decision within four years, they should consider themselves lucky.
Last month, the Law Association notified its membership (the legal fraternity) by email of a new initiative of the Court of Appeal. No doubt, this is intended to deal with the frustrating delays plaguing that Court. The said email, repeated verbatim, is as follows:
“Please be informed that the Court of Appeal will be holding Case Management Conferences during the month of March, 2022 in all Civil and Family matters pending at the Court of Appeal.
The Cause List process will no longer be used. The Justices of Appeal have organised themselves into three panels which will be known as the Central Panel, the East Panel and the West Panel. Each has been assigned a docket comprising one third of the cases pending in the Court of Appeal.
Attorneys in all Civil and Family matters are asked to look out for notices and to be prepared to attend these conferences in order to advance their matters. If by March 15, 2022 any attorneys have not received a notice for any matter in which they appear, they are asked to contact the Court of Appeal Court Office.
The Court of Appeal will later be addressing Appeal Case Management Conferences in Criminal, Petty Civil and Magisterial Appeals. The Court of Appeal intends to put itself in a position to complete matters within at least 24 months of filing. To support this, the Judiciary’s new Caselines Software and its team of Digital Voice Writers will play significant roles. Attorneys will soon be receiving directions on the uploading of documents to Caselines if their matter is being heard.
The introduction of Appeal Case Management Conferences would allow attorneys to appear before various judges on the same day.”
Case Management Conferences referred to above, is a type of hearing where the sitting judge has many powers to proactively manage the matter before him or her, to progress it towards trial. What is usually excellent about this type of hearing is that one judge presides over the management of your case, as opposed to there being a rotation of different judges. This system works very well in the High Court.
In principle, this new initiative is most welcome. Particularly, the goal post of at least 24 months of filing to complete matters. I myself will be attending one such Case Management Conference later this month and will be able to get a better sense of whether this new approach is promising to combat delay. After all, justice delayed is justice denied.
However, part of the problem of delay, which is no fault of the Court of Appeal judges, is the length of time it takes for the Judge in the Court below (be it the High Court or Magistrates/District Court) to make available the written reasons for judgment. This, however, is a topic I will discuss on another day. Be safe Trinidad and Tobago.
Disclaimer:The contents of this article are for general informative purposes only and/or contain the opinions and/or thoughts of the writer only. It does not provide legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship with any reader. For legal advice on your specific situation, please contact an Attorney-at-Law of your choosing directly. Liability for any loss or damage of any kind whatsoever allegedly incurred a consequence of relying on content in this article is thus hereby excluded to the fullest extent permitted by law.
Court of Appeal to Tackle Delay
‘By my estimation, if a party managed to get a decision within four years, they should consider themselves lucky’
WHENEVER a party is unhappy with a decision made in the Magistrate/District Court, in or the High Court, that party can appeal the decision before the Court of Appeal.
Unfortunately, though, there is much delay between the date of filing your Notice of Appeal to being handed down a decision. By my estimation, if a party managed to get a decision within four years, they should consider themselves lucky.
Last month, the Law Association notified its membership (the legal fraternity) by email of a new initiative of the Court of Appeal. No doubt, this is intended to deal with the frustrating delays plaguing that Court. The said email, repeated verbatim, is as follows:
“Please be informed that the Court of Appeal will be holding Case Management Conferences during the month of March, 2022 in all Civil and Family matters pending at the Court of Appeal.
The Cause List process will no longer be used. The Justices of Appeal have organised themselves into three panels which will be known as the Central Panel, the East Panel and the West Panel. Each has been assigned a docket comprising one third of the cases pending in the Court of Appeal.
Attorneys in all Civil and Family matters are asked to look out for notices and to be prepared to attend these conferences in order to advance their matters. If by March 15, 2022 any attorneys have not received a notice for any matter in which they appear, they are asked to contact the Court of Appeal Court Office.
The Court of Appeal will later be addressing Appeal Case Management Conferences in Criminal, Petty Civil and Magisterial Appeals. The Court of Appeal intends to put itself in a position to complete matters within at least 24 months of filing. To support this, the Judiciary’s new Caselines Software and its team of Digital Voice Writers will play significant roles. Attorneys will soon be receiving directions on the uploading of documents to Caselines if their matter is being heard.
The introduction of Appeal Case Management Conferences would allow attorneys to appear before various judges on the same day.”
Case Management Conferences referred to above, is a type of hearing where the sitting judge has many powers to proactively manage the matter before him or her, to progress it towards trial. What is usually excellent about this type of hearing is that one judge presides over the management of your case, as opposed to there being a rotation of different judges. This system works very well in the High Court.
In principle, this new initiative is most welcome. Particularly, the goal post of at least 24 months of filing to complete matters. I myself will be attending one such Case Management Conference later this month and will be able to get a better sense of whether this new approach is promising to combat delay. After all, justice delayed is justice denied.
However, part of the problem of delay, which is no fault of the Court of Appeal judges, is the length of time it takes for the Judge in the Court below (be it the High Court or Magistrates/District Court) to make available the written reasons for judgment. This, however, is a topic I will discuss on another day. Be safe Trinidad and Tobago.
Copyright © 2022 Neela Ramsundar, LL.B (HONS), L.E.C is a Civil Litigation Attorney at Law & Certified Mediator.
Disclaimer: The contents of this article are for general informative purposes only and/or contain the opinions and/or thoughts of the writer only. It does not provide legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship with any reader. For legal advice on your specific situation, please contact an Attorney-at-Law of your choosing directly. Liability for any loss or damage of any kind whatsoever allegedly incurred a consequence of relying on content in this article is thus hereby excluded to the fullest extent permitted by law.