Dear Editor,
On Monday, 4th August 2014 you reported on a bizarre advertisement which suggested some discord between the Supreme Court and the Ministry of Legal Affairs on the matter of recruitment of staff for the court’s new reporting department.
With respect to the reporter’s emphasis, I wish to point out that inasmuch as I did say what was reported, I believe that my emphasis was a bit different from the report. I believe my intended emphasis was that regardless of the appropriate procedural or jurisdictional matters between the two agencies, it was quite undignified for such a publication to be made. It does little credit to either the author or the person or persons who recommended such a course of action.
Apart from modern court reporting, there are many reforms of the judicial system which remain unimplemented, such as the new Civil Procedure Rules and urgent reforms of the Judicial Services Commission, hamstrung by inexplicable malaise. Finger-pointing in the midst of a crisis is unhelpful. Again, the public whom the judicial system is expected to serve deserves better.
Yours faithfully,
Ronald Burch-Smith
