The frequent number of trips being undertaken by the third highest office holder in the land, Chief Justice Ivor Archie, is not sitting well with several members of the legal fraternity.
A total of about $30 million has been expended on overseas travel in the Judiciary since 2007/2008, and staff claim about 70 per cent of the travel budget is used by Archie on attending conferences or training sessions. Senior staffers in the Judiciary are furious and find the practice worrisome and even an abuse of taxpayers’ money considering the current economic climate.
Between 2008 and 2012, Archie is said to have travelled out of the jurisdiction close to 30 times on official business with delegations. According to annual reports, for the fiscal years 2008 to 2014, close to $9 million was spent on ‘overseas travel’ within the Judiciary, while close to $21 million was spent on ‘overseas travel - direct charges.’
“It is a cause for concern,” said one upset employee. Judiciary sources said a significant number of judges have not had the opportunity to access foreign trips and sometimes are not even informed of opportunities.
Another burning question on the lips of some is why there is a need for such exorbitant expenditure on foreign travel when the Judiciary has set up the Judicial Education Institute of Trinidad and Tobago (JEITT), which facilitates training and education of judicial officers.
“It is funded with millions of dollars annually,” staff said. In 2013/2014, the JEITT had an expenditure of $7,451,340, while the budgetary request for 2014/2015 was $9,510,000. The allocation in 2011/2012 was $3,195,000 and $2,959,446 was spent. Another contention is when Archie travels on business, sometimes the information sent to judges and masters of the court never lists when he is expected to return.
“How is this benefiting the Judiciary as a body?” one staffer asked.
“We noticed that if a conference is four days he stays for eight or nine days. Who pays for the extra costs at the hotel?
“If you elect to stay a week after, who is paying? The taxpayers seem to be paying for his jaunts all over the world.”
The T&T Guardian compared Archie’s 2015 travel dates, which were provided in a release issued by the Judiciary’s chief information officer Alicia Carter-Fisher, to those issued to internal staff but they did not correspond. In February, the T&T Guardian requested details of Archie’s travel since 2008 but was told it would take some time to gather.
Archie did not respond to a text sent by the T&T Guardian on March 4. Carter-Fisher did not reply to two follow-up e-mails sent to her on February 11 and 12.
However, one hour after this newspaper sent Archie the text, Carter-Fisher sent an e-mail stating, “It is my understanding that you took the liberty of texting the Hon Chief Justice directly on this matter. I strongly discourage this approach and advise that the Judiciary has strict protocols on these matters which I urge you to adhere to closely.”
She then attached the same response she issued on February 6.
CJ answers to no one
Compared to former chief justices Sat Sharma and Michael De la Bastide, Archie, the youngest of the three, appears to be the most travelled. In 2008, Archie replaced Sharma, who had served for five years. Sharma was embroiled in a bitter controversy with the then Patrick Manning-led administration, who on two occasions tried to have him impeached for judicial misconduct.
T&T Guardian received information that for 2015, Archie travelled out of the jurisdiction 12 times. Some of his destinations were Scotland, Austria, Jamaica and Brazil. When contacted on the issue, Sharma said it was quite some time since he had left office and he could not recall the number of trips he made. He would only say, “It was not frequent.”
Archie was appointed CJ on January 24, 2008. He is also president of the Court of Appeal, chairman of the Judicial and Legal Services Commission and president of the JEITT. Speaking under condition of anonymity, one senior staffer told the T&T Guardian that at the end of the day, it was taxpayers’ money being spent and not being properly accounted for to the population.
“There is no accountability. It is really cause for concern because of the current economic climate,” the staffer said.
“There is an obligation to say who is going with you and the cost attached to this. It is almost as if every event or conference there is throughout the world, he has to go.”
Other insiders expressed similar sentiments with one even questioning the benefit of an MOU signed with Nigeria.
“Why do you have to go to Nigeria to sign an MOU and why were the Chief Justices of Barbados and Jamaica going on that trip to witness our Chief Justice sign an MOU?” that staffer asked.
“You have a circumstance where the Prime Minister was called to account for his travel and the costs but there has never been any public notification regarding what trips cost for the CJ.”
Employees argued that accountability was one of their main concerns in highlighting the situation.
“The Chief Justice answers to no one really,” the T&T Guardian was told.
Because of the separation of powers, the CJ does not have to answer to any arm of the State. If, however, he has to face disciplinary charges, he would appear before a tribunal.
The Judiciary is the third arm of the State and was established by the Constitution to operate independently from the Executive as a forum for the resolution of legal disputes. All judges have security of tenure up to 65.
T&T Guardian learnt that given the separation of powers, the Executive would always be hardpressed not to approve a request of the Chief Justice to travel.
“That is why it requires the exercise of discretion by the office holder,” one employee said.
“It is a national issue because a Prime Minister is accountable to the electorate; the Chief Justice is there until 65, so where is the level of accountability?”
Cabinet approval is needed for foreign travel. Employees are also concerned given the fact that the Judiciary will soon be given full financial autonomy.
Employee ‘nominated’ to carry Archie’s bags
Questions have also been raised about the size of delegations the CJ travels with during his trips.
The issue arose after some employees raised an issue about whether junior judiciary employee Kariym Hinds travelled business class on a return trip from New York in December with Archie. Carter-Fisher denied this claim, however.
She said, “He (Hinds) has on occasion accompanied the Honourable Chief Justice on travel going by economy class. [Hinds] is responsible for co-ordinating and managing the Chief Justice’s calendar by arranging appointments and engagements.” She said in this regard, Hinds assists in the planning and management of meetings, prepares agendas, issues meeting invitations and undertakes relevant follow-up action.
“He has been nominated by His Lordship to accompany him to render requisite administrative and clerical support during conference(s)/meeting(s) and has also been required to facilitate the Honourable Chief Justice’s travel and airport/ground transfers while out of the jurisdiction.” Carter-Fisher added that private travel for all officers of the court, including the Chief Justice, is paid for by the officer him/herself.
In response to questions sent by the T&T Guardian earlier in February, Carter-Fisher, who had accompanied Archie to Nigeria, said Archie travelled eight times out of the jurisdiction on official business last year and once in 2016. She said as the office holder during travel, Archie was entitled to have the assistance of technical officers/and or protocol officers.
In justifying Archie’s visit then, she said it was for technical assistance in the development of a case management information programme based on the Nigerian system which has had notable success.
Carter-Fisher said the CJ, judges, and judicial officers of the Judiciary travel on business of the State for purposes such as judicial continuing education and training; executing technical agreements of assistance and cooperation for the implementation of various programmes and initiatives to improve the administration of justice and the implementation of special purpose courts to address the needs of clients who are best served by measures which provide for rehabilitation, community service, and other alternative mechanisms to incarceration.
List of Archie’s trips & dates for 2015 received by the T&T Guardian
1. February 8-15 (London)
2. March 6-11 (Vienna, Austria)
3. March 29- April 4 (Montego Bay, Jamaica)
4. April 9-19 (Glasgow, Scotland)
5. May 15-19 (private travel)
6. June 9-? (Placencia, Belize)
7. August 1-4 (not stated)
8. August 21-28 (not stated)
9. September 3-6 (Bridgetown, Barbados)
10. September 23-27 (Montego Bay, Jamaica)
11. November 5-16 (Recife, Brazil)
12. November 30-December 6 (Washington & NY, US)
List of trips for 2016
1. January 4-9 (private travel)
2. January 29-? (Nigeria)