A top Bahamas judge has lashed out at the standard of representation in her court last year. Court of Appeal President Justice Anita Allen told members of the judiciary, lawyers and court officers that this biggest challenge. She complained that 'Far too often, shoddily prepared and inadequate grounds of appeal were filed, skeleton arguments were late or not filed at all, there were too many applications for adjournments on the basis that counsel did not have sufficient time to prepare, or because they were in trials or some other innovative, imaginative but specious reason.'
Oral arguments
She went on to say that 'the court was 'more often than not, unassisted by the standard of skeleton arguments when they were filed, or in some cases, by the oral arguments made before the court. Very often, counsel had not read the papers before coming to court and was ignorant of the facts and the law pursuant to which the appeal was lodged.' She was speaking at a ceremony hosted by the appellate court to discuss issues facing the appellate court the previous legal year.
Email your news and story ideas to: [email protected]
