Lawyers operating within the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) have been called upon to demonstrate a high level of professionalism in the execution of their duties.
This advice has come from the Chief Justice of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court, Justice Hugh Rawlins.
He was at the time simultaneously addressing each member territory of the sub-regional jurisdiction from St. Lucia to mark the start of the new Law Year.
Justice Rawlins who was recently confirmed as OECS Chief Justice reminded the legal practitioners of the sub-region of the need to be guided by honesty, integrity and fairness in all of their undertakings.
He said the court recognises that it must move to assist the process of discipline which, he feared appears to be dogged by complex or non-existing procedures.
"Knowledge of the law puts a very powerful tool at our disposal," he told lawyers.
The Chief Justice said he is in the process of engaging the services of someone to draft the rules which are required to support legislation for disciplining members of the legal profession.
"The court, however, cannot address this problem alone. The court cannot be cast in the role of complainant, investigator, prosecutor and adjudicator.
"I invite Bar Associations in member States and Territories to be cognisant of the critical role they need to play in ensuring that the ethical standards of the legal profession are upheld.
"The Bar Associations are urged to embark on the relevant continuity in education programmes, and to institute systems for ensuring that ethical standards are known and are adhered to.
In a wide ranging address, Justice Rawlins expressed concern for what he said is the under-utilisation of the mediation process in all of the jurisdictions.
"We encourage our courts to recommend mediation to litigants. We also encourage legal practitioners and the public to make better use of these services which provide a flexible, relatively quick and cost effective means for resolving disputes," he said.
He said the collective mediation programme continues to provide a creditable and credible alternative to the traditional adversarial approach to dispute resolution.
The regional jurist disclosed that during this Law Year, the Regional Mediation Coordinator, Francis Crompton will institute a training programme for mediators in the specialised area of family mediation.
The Chief Justice also announced that changes have been made to the composition of the Judicial and Legal Services Commission (JLSC).
Justices Albert Redhead, Monica Joseph and Dr. Joseph Hamidi have been replaced on the JLSC by Justice Michael Gordon who is a retired Justice of Appeal, Justice Frederick Brucile, and Frank Miles.
Rawlins spoke about his intention to ensure that the courts make use of modern technology.
He noted that hardware and software maintenance and upgrades continue to play a pivotal role in the operation of the courts' information technology department.
"My main vision for our courts is to improve the efficiency of all of our processes by the use of technology in a manner that eventually leads to the total displacement of the use of paper records in our offices," he said.
Justice Rawlins believes that this approach will provide better scrutiny and security, and easier accessibility to all records of births, deaths, and marriages, civil and criminal records, records of probate, land titles, company related activities, and intellectual property records.
