Dear Editor,
May I take this opportunity to congratulate and welcome Madame Justice Cummings-Edwards on her recent appointment as Chief Justice (ag). At the same time I wish to bid farewell to Justice Ian Chang and to thank him for doing a wonderful job during the ten years he has been acting. One of his good qualities is that he was always approachable and helpful, and was always taking home work on a daily basis so that he could give timely decisions.
I know for a fact that our new Chief Justice (ag), Justice Cummings-Edwards is a very efficient and meticulous person and she is expected to do well. But I must state that being Chief Justice is not a bed of roses; there’s hard and consistent work ahead.
One of the first things I would like to see done is for the Full Court to be properly organized. By that I mean that there should be regular sittings. A problem right now is getting matters done urgently at the Full Court. Let me give one example of a matter which is appealed in the Magistrate’s Court, say, for possession. The appeal is not a stay of execution. An application has to be made to the Full Court in order for a stay to prevail and leads to injustice towards appellants who get thrown out of their occupation before their case is properly determined in the Full Court.
I trust that the Chief Justice (ag) will look into this matter very early.
Yours faithfully,
Jonas M F Coddett
Attorney-at-law