After persistent complaints about dysfunctional judiciary, including criticisms for the first time from President Michel in his last National Day address, a special meeting was called on Tuesday afternoon by Chief Justice Vivekenan Alleear between the Judiciary, the police and the bar association presumably to thrash out any misunderstanding. President Michel has voiced publicly his concern at the slowness of the judicial process. He was not that precise, but it is not unusual for cases to drag on for 5 years or more.
Chief Justice Alleear did not himself attend the meeting. Neither did Commissioner of Police Gerard Waye Hive. The bar association, on the other hand sent their highest elected officials to the meeting. Nevertheless, the Judiciary was represented by Supreme Court Judges Perrera, Karunakaran, Kaswaga and Bernandin Renaud. The Police Commissioner for his part sent two of his senior police officers. Master-Registrar Melchior Vidot also attended along with a couple of magistrates.
As usual the opening ceremony was witnessed by an SBC camera which departed soon after. No SBC reporter stayed to follow the deliberations. We are reliably informed that this week’s meeting achieved very little in any event. Instead a sub-committee has been set up to thrash out terms of reference. Nevertheless, it appears that there seemed to be considerable good will to consult among all stakeholders on the best way to achieve speedy justice for all.
One issue which everyone seemed to agree on at the outset was that the idea mooted by the Chief Justice in his recent interview on SBC that sittings of the court should be extended to Saturdays will not necessarily speed up the delivery of justice. Participants seemed to have accepted one of the maxims of Murphy’s Law that “work expands to fill the time available to do it”.
Even before the meeting, this newspaper learnt that a visit to the new Montagne Posee prison was being planned, to include members of the judiciary as well as the churches. This follows serious complaints that the staffs of the facility, led by a military officer, are resorting to the tactics similar to those used by renegade US military guards at the infamous Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and are conducting their own form of inhumane and degrading treatment of convicts and detainees in violation of the Seychellois Charter of Fundamental Human Rights and Freedoms, as well as the Geneva Convention. It includes stripping inmates and detainees naked and forcing them to simulate various indecent sexual acts. One report says that the abuse is being undertaken by a small group of prison officers.
A lawyer has complained that remand prisoners are being held together with convicted prisoners, which is strictly prohibited by the Seychellois Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms, and are being treated under the same prison regime contrary to the Charter. The prison, which has only recently been built, was financed by international tourism developers who agreed to finance its construction in return for