Citizens march against state of justice

On Wednesday afternoon several hundreds marched the streets of Castries holding up placards with various messages for the authorities in Saint Lucia’s justice system.
The march was to bring attention to the state of the Registry of the High Court and the Civil Status Registry.
Speaking with the STAR yesterday one of the organizers, lawyer Mary Francis, expressed satisfaction with the numbers that turned up for the march but was also concerned and disappointed that not enough lawyers who constantly complain about the situation showed up to lend support.
“The situation is really scandalous,” said Francis speaking of the backlog at the High Court Registry and the amount of time it takes for persons to get documents from the Civil Status Registry.
“This has been going on for six years and we needed to bring the government’s attention to this.
“The Registry of the High Court and Civil Status is the life blood of the justice system in that it affects our lives from the cradle to the grave and as such it underpins the rule of law in St Lucia.”
Francis said the situation cannot be allowed to go unchecked as it is already having serious consequences on our society.