Full Court remembers Hoyte
Chancellor warns court system in crisis
By Edlyn Benfield
Stabroek News
January 16, 2003
Legal luminaries paid tribute to the late PNCR Leader Hugh Desmond Hoyte during a Full Court sitting convened at the Supreme Court yesterday.
The speakers included Chancellor of the Judiciary, Justice Desiree Bernard, who took the opportunity to warn that the court system was on the verge of collapse.
Justice Bernard described Hoyte as a disciplined and well-ordered individual who displayed decency and respect for others and she recalled some of his successes in the courts which included the well-known case of Saul versus Saul in a matter between a landlord and tenant.
But she noted that the administration of justice was currently in a deplorable state due "...mainly to the intractable position of the parties in parliament with regard to the functioning of the service commissions. This has led to our inability to fill existing and imminent vacancies at both judicial and magisterial levels with the result that a handful of persons are required to hear and determine an ever-increasing volume of cases."
The Chancellor said the courts are bursting at the seams and are in imminent danger of collapse as the number of judicial officers is dwindling and "...judges and magistrates are now an endangered species."
According to the Chancellor, unless new appointments are made and salaries increased "to a level sufficiently attractive to the members of the Bar the whole edifice will crumble in a very short space of time."
Adding that she hopes those responsible are not only hearing but listening, the Chancellor said that a solution must be found quickly.
Attorney-General Doodnauth Singh SC recalled Hoyte's involvement in the practice of civil and criminal law while he (Singh) was a prosecutor and noted that he "...had a reputation for hard work, dependability and reliability." Referring to Hoyte's reign as President of Guyana, the AG said it is "...to Mr. Hoyte's credit that he engineered the liberalisation of the economy [through] the privatisation of state-owned entities, importation of basic food items which had previously been banned and foreign investment. He returned Guyana to democracy."
Clarence Hughes SC remembered that within two weeks of becoming the Presi-dent, Hoyte announced the appointment of seven Senior Counsel and said this signalled Hoyte's intention of maintaining positive relations with the Bar.
Remembering that Hoyte proved to be a great lover of poetry, music and literature, several famous pieces were quoted and excerpts from previous speeches made by the late statesman.
In addition to those mentioned earlier, the Presidents of the Guyana and Berbice Bar Associations and the Guyana Women Lawyers' Association, Nigel Hughes, John Anamayah and Roxanne George respectively, and Oliver Valz SC also spoke at the sitting.
