During his presentation at the opening of the legal year Chief Justice Sir Ian Winder outlined plans to combat the backlog of criminal cases in the system.
Winder said, “three of these recommendations will be specifically pursued by the Judiciary during 2024. Recommendation 29, that there a new category of Judicial Officer or existing Judicial Officers be deployed to deal specifically with pre-trial issues in criminal matters. Recommendation 32, that a sentencing guidelines commission be established in each jurisdiction. Recommendation 34, that courts should adopt a focused integrated approach to eliminate case backlogs.”
The Chief Justice also proposed that two judges be assigned to conduct pre-trial hearings. He also said, “I will established a sentencing guidelines commission as recommended…with a broad remit including the obtaining of data and the making of recommendations to the legislature and judiciary to assist in the formulation of sentencing ranges for individual offences following the determination by parliament or judges. I will ask the President of the Court of Appeal to recommend one of his members to co-chair the commission along with Senior Justice Grant Thompson.”
