THE PM OF ST VINCENT MAY BE RIGHT

Ralph Gonsalves in his inimitable style upset the apple cart in the region and particularly in The Bahamas when he asked the question of whether or not Bahamian judges are on Mars as they give out decisions on bail for murder.  The National Security Minister Wayne Munroe sprang to the defence of Bahamian judges immediately.  So did the Deputy Leader of the FNM Shannondon Cartwright.  We are not so sure they needed to do that.  The Judges in the Bahamas and the courts here have taken the view that they are sacrosanct, forgetting that admonition of the late Lord Denning that Justice is not a cloistered virtue, and people are free to criticize the acts of judges.  The fact is they make decisions that affect people’s lives every day and so they are not free from public scrutiny.  Bahamians should not get so mixed up in nationalism that they defend what is indefensible. The police keep complaining that criminals are being let out of jail on bail, without the judges seeming to appreciate the larger interests of the public.  For that, the legislature can intervene, but with each effort in The Bahamas to stem the tide, the judges have rolled those efforts back.  So the public has to continue applying pressure.  That is why we do not criticize Ralph Gonsalves.