Unease in the court, as chief magistrate reportedly continues to occupy bench and speculation runs rife about her replacement
Following the revelation, last week, that the chief magistrate has
been served with 10 disciplinary charges by the Judicial and Legal
Services Commission, sources say she has not yet been sent on
administrative leave, and this is causing unease.
An attorney tells REAL News that Joanne Walsh should have been
removed “pending the hearing and determination of the Disciplinary
Committee.” However, critics allege that she continues to sit on the
bench and preside over the court.
Meanwhile, an inside source says there is some unease in court
circles, as many believe that a magistrate who has acted on several
occasions in Walsh’s absence may find favour with the Government
and assume the position of chief.
If that is the decision, the source says, it will not sit well with other
members of the Magistracy, since the person in question “has long
passed the mandatory retirement age.”
The insider points to two other magistrates who, he says, are both
active and are being overlooked. Therefore, it would be unfair, he
argues, if the older magistrate “is promoted from a contracted
month-to-month employee to chief magistrate.”
The source makes note of another magistrate with the capacity to
lead, but he acknowledges that illness would preclude that person
from assuming the position.
However, the source says, “even if he was available, the
Administration would have overlooked him because of a previous
decision.”
That decision, reportedly, is a reference to the exoneration of “The
UPP Three” – Harold Lovell, Willmoth Daniel, and Dr. Jacqui Quinn –
in the highly politicized “Buses Case.”
Meanwhile, the attorney also tells our Newsroom that the talk about
Walsh’s replacement is “pure public speculation,” and he hopes it is
not being fueled by the magistrate, himself.
He notes that the Commission is yet to decide on its course of action
and Chief Magistrate Walsh has not yet been suspended. That, he
says, is what the public should be concerned about.
Several residents have already taken to social media to protest
Walsh’s continued sitting on the bench, with one person advising
defendants to refuse to have their matters heard by her.