Dear Editor,

Ortland Bodie, Jr. like most of the nation, has come to the conclusion that Minister Alfred Gray did the wrong thing when he spoke with a Family Island magistrate about a judicial matter that was completed before him.

What is stunning is that the minister still sees nothing wrong, or says he sees nothing wrong with what he did. But that's not why I am writing this. Bodie goes on to say that if the Family Island magistrate needed advice he should have consulted the attorney general. Wrong, Mr. Bodie. A lot of people are confused about the role of the attorney general who is responsible for legal affairs and also for relations with the judiciary, but Bodie should know better.

The attorney general is not responsible for oversight of the judiciary. Former Justice Lyons famously and publicly lectured Attorney General Allyson Maynard Gibson on this very important point years ago. It is the same point which you so lucidly explained in your editorial today. It is the responsibility of the legislature and the executive to adequately provide resources, accommodations and facilities for the courts. It is not the job of the legislature and the executive, including the attorney general, to oversee the courts on judicial matters.

Ultimate oversight of the judiciary rests with chief justice and under him is the chief magistrate. If the Family Island magistrate wanted advice on a judicial matter he should refer to the chief magistrate - not the attorney general.

- Corrector

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