In her final speech at the opening of the Court of Appeal's Legal Year yesterday, Court President Dame Anita Allen said she hopes her dream of a Judicial Education Institute will be realized before she retires at the end of the year.

Dame Anita congratulated Attorney General Allyson Maynard-Gibson, QC, for "her efforts to improve the administration of justice, and in particular, for making the Public Defender's Unit a reality".

She said, "Indeed, in my 2013 address at the special sitting held that year, I suggested that if full meaning was to be given to the constitutional promise of a fair trial, it was necessary to establish an adequately staffed and funded public criminal defense system, which would afford indigent accused persons effective representation from the time of arrest.

"I am aware that the Public Defender's Unit will not immediately offer legal representation from the time of arrest, but I hope that will come in due course.

"Nevertheless, the establishment of the unit is a step in the right direction, and one which will not only ensure equity under the law for such persons, but will go a long way in eliminating the delay often occasioned by the non-availability of criminal defense counsel."

Dame Anita said the creation of a Judicial Education Institute would "significantly strengthen all areas of the judiciary and improve the quality of justice delivered".

She said she has noticed "some erosion in the quality and efficiency of the decision making process, and its impact on the public's confidence in our ability to uphold the rule of law.

"Indeed, we should never forget that the real source of judicial power, and the real basis for its existence, is the public's acceptance of our authority."

Dame Anita said that although inferior courts are bound by decisions of superior courts, "the practice we have seen on far too many occasions of magistrates purporting to reduce sentences which the Court of Appeal imposed, is an egregious breach of this rule, and only serves to bring the system into disrepute."

She said judges were required to be diligent and punctilious in discharging their duties.

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