Guyanese magistrates Wanda Fortune and Peter Hugh recently attended a workshop in Barbados on practices and procedures
Between July 14th and 16th, 2022 the Canadian Government-funded Improved Access to Justice in the Caribbean (IMPACT Justice) Project hosted the Workshop on Magisterial Practices and Procedures for regional magistrates.
A release from IMPACT Justice said that the workshop was held at the Accra Beach Hotel and Spa, Rockley, Christ Church and attended by participants from Barbados, Belize, Guyana, Grenada, Montserrat (via zoom), St. Lucia (via zoom), and Trinidad and Tobago.
Regional Project Director of the IMPACT Justice Project, Velma Newton said that the workshop for magistrates was being held after the Project was informed that in many countries, magistrates received no formal training before taking on the role.
Facilitators included Justice Christopher Birch, High Court Judge, Barbados, and Former Chief Magistrate who spoke on the role of the magistrate, juvenile offenders and sentencing; Justice Jo-Ann Barlow, High Court Judge, Guyana, who presented on arraignments and bail; Rickie Burnett, Senior Magistrate, St. Vincent and the Grenadines who presented on decision writing, witness management and adjournment considerations; and Zoila Ellis-Browne, Magistrate, St Vincent and the Grenadines, who spoke on fundamentals of civil evidence, and the role of the magistrate in civil matters.
Alifa Elrington, Head, Prosecution Branch, Belize, addressed the case management conference; Sharon Milwood Moore, Senior Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions, Jamaica, reviewed the fundamentals of criminal evidence and Shirlan Barnwell, Attorney-at-Law, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, delivered a family law practitioners overview on the handling of domestic violence matters, custody and maintenance matters in the Magistrate’s Court.
