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Welcome return to open courts
🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago /Crime & Justice

Welcome return to open courts

From Trinidad Express · () English

Summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

Opinion Named sources New plan
  • Trinidad and Tobago will begin reopening physical hearings in several courts after prolonged reliance on virtual proceedings during and after the Covid-19 pandemic.
  • The courts are moving toward a hybrid model, with in-person trials and virtual formats for administrative and case-management matters.
  • The phased reopening will cover all magistrates’ courts except those in Port of Spain and Scarborough, along with 15 criminal high courts.

Trinidad and Tobago is beginning a phased return to physical court hearings, restoring a form of public access that the country’s courts have struggled to provide since the Covid-19 pandemic.

The return draws on the principle of open justice, expressed by the Privy Council in the 1936 Ambard v Attorney General case: “Justice is not a cloistered virtue: she must be allowed to suffer the scrutiny and respectful, even though outspoken, comments of ordinary men.” The principle requires the public, victims and the media to observe proceedings without unnecessary barriers.

Virtual hearings began as an emergency response in 2020, and the courts were fully shuttered in May 2021. The prolonged reliance on remote proceedings left Trinidad and Tobago out of step with other Commonwealth and regional jurisdictions, where physical hearings resumed sooner and online platforms remained mainly for procedural matters.

Justice is not a cloistered virtue: she must be allowed to suffer the scrutiny and respectful, even though outspoken, comments of ordinary men.

— Privy CouncilThe 1936 Ambard v Attorney General ruling established the open-justice principle cited in the editorial.

The new approach will combine the two systems. Physical courtrooms will handle trials, evidence and witness cross-examination, while virtual proceedings will continue for administrative and case-management work. The Caribbean Court of Justice and the Privy Council use remote or hybrid hearings because of their geographic reach, but both have maintained that trial courts need stronger safeguards in a physical setting.

Chief Justice Ronnie Boodoosingh had promised the reopening after taking office. At his swearing-in last October, he placed priority on assessing facilities and restoring direct human interaction in the delivery of justice, saying, “technology is good, but justice must include in-person human interaction”.

The first phase will reopen all magistrates’ courts except those in Port of Spain and Scarborough, as well as 15 criminal high courts. The move is intended to address concerns involving open justice, trial fairness, efficiency and court infrastructure.

technology is good, but justice must include in-person human interaction

— Ronnie BoodoosinghThe Chief Justice used the phrase while prioritising the return of physical court proceedings.
About this summary

Originally published by Trinidad Express. Summarized and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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