Annual Report of the Judiciary of Trinidad and Tobago 2012-2013 Annual Report 2012-2013 | Page 43

Distinguished Jurist Lecture
The third Distinguished Lecture organised by the Trinidad
and Tobago Judicial Education Institute (TTJEI) in June
this year, engaged a cross section of Judiciary stakeholders
in a discussion on “The Continuing Relevance of the Jury
System” not only here in Trinidad and Tobago but the wider
Caribbean. Leading the analysis was the Honourable Chief
Justice of Barbados, Sir Marston Gibson, who delivered
this year’s lecture on the topic to a packed audience in the
Convocation Hall at the Hall of Justice in Port of Spain.
The guests included His Excellency the President of the
Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, Mr Anthony Carmona,
SC and the Honourable the Chief Justice, Mr Justice Ivor
Archie.
Sir Marston argued that there was much to be said for
limiting the jury, at least in the present form, in certain
jurisdictions where complaints and results showed that it
quite simply was not working. He cited, as an example, the
situation in Jamaica, where some statistics on the operation of the jury system in that country have been made
available.
He concluded that ultimately, a sound and lasting decision
as to how the delivery of justice could be improved in the
region, and whether the delivery of criminal justice
demanded the abolition of trial by jury, could only be made
where more studies and information were first made
available.
He suggested that we quite simply needed another
in-depth sociological and economic study of the type
conducted in the 1980s by Prof. Ramesh Deosaran, Professor Emeritus of the University of the West Indies, which
would also take into account the impact on the jury system
of modern technology, particularly the social media.
Sir Marston was also of the view, “whether or not jury trials
are maintained or abolished, given the particular threats to
the impartiality of juries attendant in small societies such
as our own, it would be advisable for each jurisdiction to
permit bench trials in specific circumstances, such as, for

The Honourable the Chief Justice
Mr Ivor Archie welcomes the
Distinguished Jurist Lecturer
Sir Marston Gibson to the Hall of Justice
in Port of Spain

example, where it is shown that there is a reasonable and
palpable risk of jury tampering or interference.”
He emphasised as a final note, it must never be forgotten
that our legal system is man-made and that no system we
select will be infallible. He said a choice has to be made by
the people of a nation as represented by its Parliament,
after consultation with all appropriate parties and civil
society at large, as to the most appropriate method for each
particular society.

Commonwealth and distinguished Caribbean regionalist,
Sir Shridath Ramphal, and Judge of the Caribbean Court of
Justice, Mr Justice Adrian Saunders. They dealt respectively with the topics, “Creating a Regional Jurisprudence”
and “The Role of the Court of Appeal in Developing and
Preserving an Independent and Just Society.”

Sir Marston’s presentation set the tone for a very lively
panel discussion on the day following his lecture in which
members of the audience including Judges, Magistrates,
Attorneys and law students joined in commentary and a
question and answer session with the panelists which
comprised Chief Justice Gibson, the Honourable the Chief
Justice of Trinidad and Tobago, Mr. Justice Ivor Archie,
Justice Jacob Wit of the Caribbean Court of Justice, Professor Deosaran, and Her Worship, Magistrate Nalini Singh.
The first two lectures in the series, introduced by the
TTJEI, were delivered by former Secretary General of the

Sir Marston delivers the 2013 Distinguished Jurist Lecture

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Reshaping the

Judiciary Identity