By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

ATTORNEY General Ryan Pinder said he supports introducing a disciplinary system for the judiciary, adding judges should be held accountable for misconduct like everyone else.

His comment in the Senate yesterday came after Senator Michela Barnett-Ellis called for a system where formal complaints can be made against judges.

“There are mistakes in law which can be appealed, and then there is behaviour which is inappropriate and impacts the confidence in the justice system, and that must be addressed,” she said.

Mr Pinder agreed and said he would speak to the chief justice.

“For years,” he said, “the country has suffered under a regime where judgements and decisions have been delayed unnecessarily in certain instances for years and years and years, which has a direct affect on those who are looking to get justice from the courts themselves. And it is inequitable. It is unfair. In the private sector, you would be terminated. You would not have a job.”

 “I support the notion that the honourable member raised about having some form of disciplinary framework for the judiciary. Everybody else has to answer to that. The judiciary should have to answer for instances which justifies discipline.”

 The senators debated a compendium of court bills to improve the judicial system yesterday.

 Mr Pinder revealed that the government bought space on Shirley Street and conveyed the Rodney Bain building to build a new judicial complex that would house at least 19 courts. Construction will begin next year.

 The government, he said, will demolish the Rodney Bain building.

 Complaints about the deteriorating state of court facilities have been long-standing. Earlier this year, Chief Justice Ian Winder lamented the courts’ infrastructure, saying a new complex is needed.

 Mr Pinder said yesterday that new family and juvenile courts will be built next year as well.

 “The facility will allow for the confidentiality of sensitive family matters that will be adjudicated at that location,” he said. “Another important component of these courts are the availability of mediation rooms and expertise for pretrial dispute resolution, especially in sensitive matters such as family matters.”

 “Our efforts to modernise and advance the infrastructure of the courts is an important component in our approach to justice. We also have plans for the development of a commercial court, which we likewise hope to be in a position to launch and open in 2024. Once we move the Supreme Court into their new judicial complex, we will likewise have the ability to further advance the specialty courts.”

 “And we look to put the sexual offences court where the current Supreme Court is, and we would look to also put the Coroner’s Court into new facilities where the chief justice’s offices are, allowing for a proper allocation of judicial resources and speciality areas in their own facilities with their own intention.”