Two judges out of five sitting (last week)

Justice was set to move at a crawling pace with the absence of three out of the five judges of the Supreme Court, resulting in long delays in the hearing of both criminal and civil cases.

Chief Justice Vivekanand Allear was overseas amid reports that he is stepping down soon. However, this is not the first time that we hear that the CJ is quitting and most Seychellois are likely to be skeptical given the salary increases for judges recently passed by the National Assembly. The same Assembly also voted its members and other elected and nominated constitutional office holders huge pay increases, along with various gratuities and pensions. But this is going off topic.

The only judges now sitting are Sri Lankan born Ranjun Perrera, who is almost at retirement age and Ugandan Kaswaga.

Lawyers have been informed that Judge Bernadin Renaud is on leave, while Indian-Born Karunakaran has also decided to go away on “extended leave”. The last time that a judge went on indefinite leave, was when Mauritian Nando Juddoo went to Canada and only tendered his resignation several months later. That meant that all cases handled by him had to be re-heard all over again by another judge although he enjoyed fullpay whilst on extended leave in Canada. Another abuse of our hard earned tax payers’ cash! In some instances, witnesses had also gone away or died and justice delayed definitely turned into justice denied.

  CJ Allear often blames lawyers for delays in court cases, claiming they are fond of using delaying tactics. He however conveniently forgets that in the court, it is the judge who rules and can bring any lawyer to task by ordering a case to proceed in his/her absence, should there be resort to any unfair games. Judges should also set a good example by being punctual and not absenting themselves too often. As it is, some cases which were mentioned five years ago have still not been concluded.

As for the huge salary increases for Constitutional Appointees recently presented before the National Assembly, Ramkalawan has stated that the SNP will vote unanimously (Zot anan Zot par ladan!) in favour except for the judiciary which he says his party will vote against. Let’s see if Ramka will have the guts to put his money where his mouth is!

January 25, 2008
Copyright 2007: Seychelles Weekly, Victoria, Mahe, Seychelles