Member States’ budget for EC Court inadequate - Dame Pereira
Dame Pereira was today September 17, 2014 speaking during the opening ceremony held at the special sitting of the Court to mark the commencement of the 2014/2015 Law Year. Her address was titled: “Fulfilling our Strategic Vision in Challenging times” and was broadcast live, via simulcast to the Courts in the other jurisdictions.
During her opening address, Dame Pereira touched on a myriad of issues, from crime in the various member jurisdictions to the integration of the Magistracy. However, she raised the issue of lack of adequate financing for the Court by member countries and Territories while at the same time noting that the institution is expected to provide stellar service.
“While the Court Reform Initiative as contemplated in the Court’s Strategic Plan has been successful in many regards, its implementation has been met with some measure of adversity in a few areas, a significant one being that of finance,” she said.
“The declining fiscal situation of the member States and Territories has contributed considerably in exacerbating the difficulties faced by the court which is financed by the contribution of each member State and Territory after collective approval of the overall annual budget by the OECS Authority,” she said.
She said that the percentage of the national budget allocated to the operation of the Court for each member State and Territory ranges from as low as 0.69 percent to as high as 1.87 percent. The reality is that in seven out of the nine States and Territories the Court’s national budgetary allocation is below 1 percent,” she said.
Dame Pereira noted that the national contributions, even when combined are but a mere drop in the bucket when compared to the entire national budget of each contributor.
“The financial situation of the Court is further compounded by the irregular and tardy payments of contributions from member States and Territories while the work of the Court is expected to continue unabated,” she said.
She said that over the past decade or so the Court’s headquarters have not received all the approved budget contributions from all the member States.
“Despite all of this the Court is obligated to provide the best quality of service to the citizens that we serve. The citizens in turn demand high quality service and rightly so,” she said.
She said in 2013 the revenue generated by the Court through the collection of fees and fines exceeds US$3.5 million in the Virgin Islands, EC$1.2 million in Antigua and Barbuda, close to EC $1 million in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and EC $3.5 million in St. Lucia.
“Considering the importance of the work of the Court to the economic wellbeing of our countries the amounts which have been allocated to the proper functioning of the Justice System are in my view woefully inadequate,” she stated.
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13 Responses to “Member States’ budget for EC Court inadequate - Dame Pereira”
court transcripts take weeks, if not months, to obtain. and quite often are full of errors. why cant the court go to video recording so accuracy is guarenteed and prevent mistakes and misunderstandings. is it because of jobs for court reporters. If
so do both as video is cheap and quick and gives the lawyers an instant transcipt.
Verdicts should be deliveredin a timely manner and not take years to be given. People including judges i am sure remember evidence they heard recently rather than what they heard a year ago. Particularly as one assumes they have spent the intervening months listening to evidence in other cases. Let the courts get their act together and then ask for money.