FRIDAY, APRIL 21, 2005
 

I believe that as a people we Bahamians are capable of excelling in all areas of life. The stellar achievement of our atheletes is a shining example and reminder to us all that the potential for excellence dwells within us and it is our duty to live up to that potential.

Over the years, comfort and complacency have led to a deterioration in our expectations and mediocrity has in too many instances taken the place of excellence.

Today we face a crisis of crime and social decay that threatens our very existence. As your Attorney General, I am standing shoulder to shoulder with the capable and diligent professionals who make up the majority of the police force, courts, prison system, probation departments and of course the attorney generals office and we are issuing an urgent wake-up call to all Bahamians.

As a team we are determined to restore excellence to the justice system. Our very first priority will be the delivery of ‘swift justice.’  The Bible warns us that when “Justice is not swift, wickedness grows in the hearts of men.”

Swift justice requires the involvement and support of all Bahamians. This news conference represents the first in a series of regular meetings with the press designed to facilitate the participation of the Bahamian people in our ‘swift justice’ program.

The swift justice program begins as a pilot project.  Our approach to these cases involves collaboration between the institutions and agencies within the justice system and the involvement of victims and their families.

The achievement of swift justice is a team effort and it requires all of our judicial institutions, including the police, the probation department, the courts, the prison and of course the Attorney General’s Office to work together in a seamless fashion. The baton of information must be passed swiftly from hand to hand until we reach the ultimate goal – justice for the victims and their families and for society as a whole.

In order to implement the level of cooperation necessary to achieve swift justice, representatives from each of the partnership agencies meet with the Attorney General regularly. These meetings are to ensure through effective communication that progress is being made toward the goal of the team.

The integrated “swift justice’ program is designed to strengthen transparency and accountability.

Let me give you a few short examples of what is being done in the swift justice pilot project.

• It has been determined that it would be appropriate in serious cases such as murder, armed robbery, rape, sexual offences and other similar serious matters for these cases to proceed directly to the Supreme Court by voluntary bill of indictment. In otherwords, there is no need in the circumstances of these particular cases to hold a preliminary inquiry in the Magistrates Court.

• Weekly meetings occur to ensure that forensic witnesses, where necessary, are properly briefed, notified and in place to give their evidence at the appropriate time.

• The weekly meetings allow for coordination and planning well in advance. The police witnesses in each case are identified well in advance and they would be kept abreast of the progress of the case to trial so that they can be properly prepared to attend court at the appropriate time. Schedules would be taken into consideration. We cannot have a police officer away on vacation or deployed to another island when a matter requiring his testimony comes up. Nor can we have him or her showing up at trial exhausted and unprepared because he or she has been on duty the night before.

• The weekly meetings allow the Attorney General’s office, who prosecute the cases, to work more efficiently with the police, who investigate the case. The aim of the collaboration between legal minds and the police is to ensure that these cases do not fail due to “technicalities” or lack of proper planning.

Those are just a few examples.

Swift justice is a principle that is as old as mankind.  The consequence of the ineffective delivery of justice is increased crime. The Bahamas is our country and we are all responsible for protecting and preserving our birthright.  My team represents partnership in action. To be effective in delivering and preserving our birthright, we must have the support of all residents of our beloved country.

We have offered ourselves to the spotlight of accountability.  We invite the media and the people of the Bahamas to join us through support and positive feedback in strengthening the Justice system in The Bahamas.

Finally, as Attorney General of The Bahamas, I pledge to give my best every day to secure the reputation of this office as the pre-eminent law Chambers of The Bahamas.