Court rocked by limited space, storage, money, old & crumbling buildings-Smith-Penn
It was while testifying before the House of Assembly’s Standing Finance Committee in regards to the 2016 Budget that the Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court, Mrs Erica Smith-Penn, made public the many other challenges.
Mrs Smith-Penn told the Standing Finance Committee (SFC) that some of the serious issues faced by the court system are lack of office/court room space, lack of storage space, insufficient budget for contributions to overseas organisations, electricity, building maintenance, personal emoluments and other operations expenditure and inadequate building facilities.
No space; Commercial Court too small already
Many of the court houses and office buildings used by the judicial system are already out of space, according to Mrs Smith-Penn who oversees the logistics for some forty two officers and a juridical team of four. The Registrar told the SFC that the Commercial Court had very little room for expansion and one Judicial Officer had to be moved to the Registry.
The Registrar further advised that there was a continuous need for court space to hear matters and a conference room at the Registry had to be converted into a court room even though the funds to procure such things as furnishings were limited.
Mrs Smith-Penn complained that “an additional judge was appointed, but there was no space for him to be accommodated and one of the Deputy Registrars had to be displaced to provide seating arrangement as the current space configuration has been outgrown.” She also told law makers that she would welcome additional budget funds to reconfigure the space.
No storage for court documents
The Chief Registrar stated that when matters are filed they go to their archive facilities in Pockwood Pond on the main island of Tortola and because of lack of storage space it was a problem when searches had to be conducted as there were boxes lining the area which was not good for security and did not appeal to their appearance.
In her testimony Mrs Smith-Penn said she would like to “upgrade to a more user-friendly, modern facility outfitted with electronic searching, but was advised that it cannot accommodate the load as they expand.”
Insufficient Budget; VI behind in overseas contributions
The Registrar told the House committee that there continues to be insufficient funds for contributions to overseas organisations, electricity, building maintenance, paying staff and other operational expenditures.
Mrs Smith-Penn said the Virgin Islands is committed to overseas contributions in the amount of $727,000. However, she said the funds given to her “was insufficient” and she had to request additional funds to augment the budget as there was a shortfall for overseas contributions.
Inadequate building facilities
The challenges of the court system continue, including inadequate building facilities. The Registrar stated that the facilities housing the court officers in the 'Old Administration Building' “was beginning to crack and crumble and was falling apart.”
She told the SFC that she was “concerned for the staff, as the structural integrity and the air quality causes considerable expenditure.”
Mrs Smith-Penn noted that “it was a real issue as officers become sick and overall maintenance cost continue to dig into the Budget,” according to the SFC Report of 2016.
As of publication time, no comments were forth-coming from the Governor or Deputy Governor’s Offices who are responsible for the court system in the Virgin Islands.
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