Supreme court judge pleased with SVG stint

Retired Jamaican Supreme court judge Wesley James has expressed pleasure in serving here as a judge in the High Court’s criminal Assizes.{{more}}

James, speaking at the closing of the assizes on March 27, said: “I have experienced other jurisdictions, but it has never been like this. It is the first assizes I am doing here, and if there is any phrase as ‘judicial pleasure’, I would like to adopt it,” James chuckled.

James took up duties earlier this year to help run simultaneous sittings of the Assizes to decrease the number of cases before the court.

Stating that he finds pleasure in this system, James said he is particularly impressed by the unwavering attendance of jurors.

“I had other experiences where some days cases had to be postponed because of lack of numbers of jurors…,” he added.

Adding that they were not able to proceed with the number of matters for which they had hoped, James said the cases that were adjourned were for good reasons, and not as a result of lack of effort.

“It has been a pleasure working in this jurisdiction. I find the staff of the DPP, Registrar and others around the court were very cooperative. I hope that the next assizes we will be able to double our efforts,” James added.

Meanwhile, resident High Court Judge Frederick Bruce-Lyle thanked James for giving of his time to assist with the Criminal Assizes.

James will preside here for one year.

Bruce-Lyle also commended the jurors, the court staff, police officers and the media for doing a great job.(KW)