Attorney-at-law, Jerry Seales is now sitting at the Number One Magistrate's Court in St. George's serving as Acting Chief Magistrate for Patricia Mark now at the centre of a legal row with the Keith Mitchell-led government.
Seales who made his entry into the court room on Monday, two hours later than the scheduled 9:00 a.m. start of the sitting, confirmed to GRENADA TODAY Court Reporter, Wayne Modeste that he has been appointed to act as the Chief Magistrate.
However, he stopped short of saying for how long he will be acting in the post.
"I would not comment, Wayne. I believe that will be handled by the Ministry (of Legal Affairs) with respect to the Press Releases," the Acting Chief Magistrate said.
Seales who previously served in St. George's described being back on the bench in the city as rather challenging.
The two-hour delay of Monday's court sitting was largely due to Seales first going to the Grenville Magistrate's Court to conduct some court matters in the jurisdiction where he was based before his new appointment.
The delay brought about some frustrations on the part of court officers including defense attorneys who, just moments before the scheduled commencement of the court, learnt that the day's sitting will begin at 11:00 a.m.
Some officials publicly criticized the ruling New National Party (NNP) administration for not putting in place the necessary structures in place to facilitate Mark's absence.
President of the Grenada Bar Association (GBA) Ruggles Ferguson who addressed the media on the issue claimed that not even the lawyers are aware of what is going on with the courts in St. George's and Grenville.
He spoke of GBA having no prior knowledge that Seales was going to be appointed as the Acting Chief Magistrate.
"We have not been informed... even out of courtesy, and lawyers have attended the Number One Magistrate's Court in St. George's... just as litigants, witnesses have all attended, and they have to return, but nobody, not even the court staff, know exactly what is going on," he said.
At the Grenville Magistrate's Court, there were an astonishing 90 matters to be heard on Monday alone, while in St. George's 16 persons were due to appear before the Chief Magistrate.
Ferguson said this situation once again shows the kind of disrespect that is shown for due administration of justice in Grenada.
"What is happening today (Monday) is certainly inexcusable because it comes as a direct result of the attitude and action taken with respect to the Chief Magistrate who has effectively been sent home without proper arrangements being made for the continuation of matters," he remarked.
The GBA President indicated that this is not only a one-day problem since the entire judicial system will feel the effects as time goes on.
He said that several matters were pending in the Magistrate's Court for the last few years in which evidence had already been taken in some criminal and summary cases.
"What you would find is that these matters will have to be started over, or certainly lawyers will be moving for the dismissal of some of these matters that have been in the system for very long.
"So there is absolutely no planning, no respect for lawyers, no respect for litigants, no respect for witnesses.
"The government has to take stock of itself. Spend less time attacking judges, attacking magistrates, attacking lawyers, attacking everybody, and focus on issues and the justice system and what it requires to operate smoothly.
Ferguson contended that because of the volume of work in the magisterial system and the huge backlog of cases, any time there is a change of personnel or adjournments for an entire day it creates a problem.
Mark has taken the Mitchell government to court over the manner in which it sought to have her removed from the post of Chief Magistrate on account of her age.
The first hearing was scheduled for Thursday before female high court judge, Justice Clare Henry.
Government tried to ditch Mark through the local Public Service Commission (PSC) while legal sources said the move should have been made through the Judicial and Legal Services Commission (JLSC) which is responsible for the hiring and removal of independent judicial officers serving in the country.
