Chief Justice Ivor Archie said yesterday that the current crime rate, coupled with prison overcrowding, continues to place considerable pressure on the criminal justice infrastructure.
He said such a situation was simply unacceptable.
Archie admitted that accused people being held without trial for long periods was also testimony to the fact that the system was not operating satisfactorily.
He was speaking yesterday at a breakfast seminar hosted yesterday by the T&T Chamber of Industry and Commerce, Westmoorings. It was titled A Restorative Dialogue.
Saying that restorative justice may be viewed with scepticism by some given the high level of brutality in the society, Archie said it was key, however, to delivering "justice that heals."
And a necessary part of ensuring there was modern infrastructure was the Criminal Procedure Rules which are expected to be fully implemented in January next year.
These rules focus on improved and aggressive case management which would assist in reducing the time matters take in the criminal courts.
On drug treatment, Archie said, the more the Judiciary could divert those guilty of minor non-violent offences towards programmes that addressed anti-social behaviour, the greater the possibility of reducing prison overcrowding, the cost burden to the State and recidivism.
He said Goodyear hearings, where prisoners are made aware of the maximum sentence they would get if they plead guilty, could also assist in speeding up the process, Archie said.
He said last year there were 49 such hearings of which more than 50 per cent led to guilty pleas.
Plea bargaining, Archie added, was another measure which could reduce the backlog of pending cases.
Regarding the recent call made by Roman Catholic Archbishop Joseph Harris for specific prisoners to be pardoned, Archie said he strongly believed that nobody should remain in pre-trial detention for longer than was absolutely necessary.
Archie also announced that the judiciary's flagship project, two juvenile courts, were expected to be on stream by September, as well as a peer resolution centre.
"The juvenile court project is the judiciary's response to an outmoded juvenile justice system in T&T.
"Youths in custody for criminal offences wait inordinately long periods for matters to be heard," Archie said.
In addition there was a system of institutionalised gender bias as girls in detention were not afforded the same opportunities to continue their education and pursue programmes as boys since there were no such facilities for girls.
Archie said the Children Court Rules had been drafted and were being reviewed by the Rules Committee of the Judiciary.
The draft rules were also being used to inform the re-engineering of internal court processes.
The Judges' Rules for Children, Archie said, were also nearing completion.
OUT OF POCKET
During the question and answer segment, Reginald Armour, president of the Law Association, asked when would full financial autonomy be given to the Judiciary as promised in last year's Budget.
Archie said there were issues being dealt with, adding this should be on stream within the next 18 months. In giving an example, Archie said he was expected to leave the country on official business on Sunday and had to pay for his hotel room using his personal credit card.
"But I have to send a note to Cabinet to spend $30,000 and it has to go before a travel committee. It didn't go to Cabinet until yesterday (Thursday) so I am hoping I can get that approved when I leave here so that the hotel room that I paid for with my credit card I could put back some money in my account. "It is kind of ridiculous that somebody at my level should be going through that," Archie added. The Chief Justice is the third highest office holder in T&T, after the President and Prime Minister.