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Criminal Bar Assoc head: Good riddance!

Head of the Criminal Bar Association Israel Khan, SC, has declared “good riddance!” after Ivor Archie announced he intended to retire as Chief Justice, during his speech at the opening of the law term at the Hall of Justice on September 16. In a release, following Archie's announcement, Khan said he had been struggling for seven years to have Archie removed as CJ. “In the fullest (sic) of time, history will pass judgment on him. In any event, he will be entitled to all his financial benefits.” Speaking later to reporters at his offices on Abercromby Street, Port of Spain, Khan reminded of the conference he held some weeks ago when he smashed a framed photo of Archie. “He used his position to fire a sitting judge in order to save himself, and the Privy Council said he acted unlawfully. He could not have stayed in office, he just couldn’t. I have nothing personal against the chief justice, he’s a brilliant jurist, but country first. So he got some sense in his head finally," Khan said. Khan reiterated that while he respected Archie, he thought the CJ would have done grave harm to the Judiciary. “I wish to place on public record that he is a very good jurist, he’s one of the best jurists in the entire Commonwealth. He’s a bright and innovative judge. But his insatiable appetite for...I’ll stop there, caused his downfall...he didn’t pay attention to the judiciary.” Khan attributed the current state of the judicial system to a lack of leadership. “The judiciary now is in chaos, the courts are all closed down and you cannot charge someone, a citizen, for murder, and he’s presumed innocent yet he’s locked up for ten and 15 years. There are 600 police killings in this country over the last 27 years and he didn’t set up a coroner’s court to find out whether these officers acted lawfully or committed crimes." “He’s a very bright judge, but that does not detract from the fact that he’s in charge of the judiciary and people are locked up for 12-15 years and presumed to be innocent? He should have insisted, as I have been saying for the past 20 years, they’re supposed to categorise murder into first, second and third degrees and give bail to second and third, and expedite first degree murders.” Khan said the chief priority is to get a proper replacement for the position of chief justice. “…a person who has the necessary merit, ability and most of all, somebody who wouldn’t stray from the narrow path. There are good judges throughout the judiciary. "As a matter of fact, the next in line is Mark Mohammed, he is a former DPP, a very good jurist, second (is) Geoffrey Henderson, he was a former DPP and he was in the international court, and then you have Justice Ronnie Boodoosingh, who was a very senior lecturer at the Hugh Wooding Law School and trained a lot of lawyers.” Asked whether a new CJ would help the judiciary evolve further, Khan said the President would make the appointment in consultation with the Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition. “But it does not mean to say she (the President) would have to appoint somebody within the judiciary, she could appoint someone from outside the judiciary and the overbearing question is, who appointed the President? “She may be obligated still to move a certain way, but I have faith in the President that good sense will prevail, she will think about country first and appoint somebody who has the necessary merit, ability and integrity. "She must adhere to the Constitution, she must not allow race, class, creed or political allegiance or gender to get in the way. She must appoint a person who is objective, passionate and has an insatiable thirst for justice for all.” Khan said it was possible that a female chief justice could be appointed, but added that gender ought not to play a role in the next person to head the judiciary. The post Criminal Bar Assoc head: Good riddance! appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.