Dear Editor,
Some time ago, my friend and colleague Mr Vidyanand Persaud, Attorney-at-law (Vish, as we all know him) wrote a poignant letter to the press calling for the abolition of this wholly and unnecessary relic of our colonial past, the ceremonial opening of the Criminal Assizes.
I now wish to join Mr Persaud and renew the call for the immediate discontinuance of this archaism. Indeed, having regard to the recent indictment by the Honourable Madam Justice George-Wiltshire, on what she mildly described as a broken criminal justice system, with which many of us agree, there is no cause to be celebratory at every opening of the Assizes.
But I do not wish here to delve into any jurisprudential rationale for the abolition of the ceremonial opening of the Criminal Assizes; Vish dealt quite adequately with this in his letter and I would not venture to improve upon it.
My argument against it is purely as a citizen. Each time there is the ceremonial opening of the Criminal Assizes traffic on a number of busy thoroughfares (Avenue of the Republic, Brickdam, Croal Street and South Road) is diverted and severely disrupted between the peak hours of 8am and 9am when persons are trying to get to work. The result is absolute chaos, confusion and congestion.
I have personally on a number of occasions raised my concerns with both the Honourable Chancellor and Chief Justice. Both gentlemen were ad idem in their responses. They were sympathetic to my concerns but stated that they had no control over the traffic arrangements. It was the police who made these arrangements.
Not surprisingly, this was the same response I got from the Honourable Speaker of the National Assembly when I complained to him about the nonsensical diversion of traffic, whenever Parliament is in session.
Well I think that every citizen understands that when it comes to planning and making sensible traffic arrangements the capacity of the Guyana Police Force is to say the least, deficient and wanting.
But my concern is with the ceremonial opening of the Criminal Assizes and its accompanying parade. It seems to me that if there were no ceremonial opening of the Criminal Assizes, there would be no parade and therefore the police would be relieved of taking responsibility for disrupting our schedules and lives and causing overall chaos, confusion and congestion every time the sessions open.
While I stand to be corrected, I could find no provision in the High Court Act Cap 3:02 or any other statute which mandates the ceremonial opening of the Criminal Assizes or its accompanying parade. It is simply an outdated custom whose time has come.
I have never really understood why our High Court Judges would want to demean themselves by standing in line next to a leaky, stinking sewerage manhole in South Road just outside the High Court simply for a photo opportunity and a chance to inspect a police guard of honour.
I however now realize that is probably why they toast themselves shortly thereafter with a stiff glass of sherry.
If it is nevertheless felt that this ceremony is somehow necessary to the dispensation of criminal justice, I would humbly suggest that it be held in the Botanic Gardens on a Sunday morning, preferably before 7am.
Yours faithfully,
Rafiq T Khan
Attorney-at-law
