Sunday Observer reporter Petre Williams continues our series that offers a glimpse into the challenges facing the island’s courthouses, those who work within the judiciary system and their solutions to the problems.

AS allegations surface of sexual liaisons at some courthouses that share space with police stations, there are increasing calls from within the justice system for a physical separation of the halls of justice from law enforcement.

The Jamaican Bar Association has long called for the separation, saying it was necessary for the preservation of an independent judiciary, both in substance and in appearance.

“The JBA has always expressed that it is incorrect to house a police station and a courthouse on the same building,” the association’s president, Arlene Harrison-Henry told the Sunday Observer.

“The judiciary is a separate entity from the police and everything should be done to preserve the independence of the judiciary, including an appearance.”

Added to that call, there are now fresh allegations that courthouses are being used for sexual liaisons.

“When I go to Sandy Bay, the back door is open (and) a sponge is in there on the floor as a mattress. When you go into the courtroom, the benches are turned face to face,” said Hanover court administrator Ida Levene.

The Sandy Bay courthouse and others that share premises with police stations, are being turned into seedy hotels, she said, and efforts to have the issue addressed have largely been ignored.

“All the outstation courthouses in the island that are attached to the police station, whether above or beside the police station, are being used by the police for that purpose. It is something that we talk about, but with which we get nowhere,” said Levene.

The police, she says, know what their colleagues are up to, but are making no attempt to stop the practice.

Levene also says her requests for a bar to secure the court from the inside have been ignored.

“All everybody do a just laugh,” Levene said, slipping into patois. “When you talk about it, people just laugh. People are not serious about it and nothing is being done.”

The Hanover police, however, say the issue has never been raised with them, with parish chief Deputy Superintendent Paul Stanton insisting that what is being seen as evidence of a tryst, may just be an indication that the court is being used as a resting place.

“The mere finding of a sponge and benches pulled together couldn’t really be definitive to say sexual things are taking place,” said Stanton.

“I wouldn’t go along with that theory. Benches pulled together with a sponge could indicate anything, among them somebody going there to sleep.”

Definitive proof, he said, would require investigations and forensic analysis.

According to the justice ministry, under the existing system, police officers have the keys to the courthouses with which they share space and are responsible for securing the premises.

Levene suggests that as an added security boost, watchmen should be installed, saying they would do a better job of securing the premises and keeping out those who use the facilities for sexual trysts.

“It is better secured when it is separated. At Lucea here, we have a watchman, the police station is not on it and it is well kept,” she adds. “Although (the police station) is there for security, (the courthouse) is more secure when it is separated.”

Major Warwick Sterling, the justice ministry’s director of property management, says he has heard whispers of courthouses being used for sexual escapades. But with no concrete proof, it was difficult for him to speak with authority on the issue.

“We have never discussed it at length. There are some concerns but not to the point where we can get up and say ‘well, this is the ministry’s position’,” says Sterling. “There are speculations, but you just don’t get up and brand people unless you are sure of what is happening.”

“I have seen signs of that (possible sexual activities), but I cannot categorically say, ‘yes, it is the police’. But the police have the keys for the place… and access to it during the night.”

The ministry official concedes that it might be a good idea to have the courts and police stations on separate premises, but stresses that it would be a costly move.

“The whole thing would be left to the availability of funds,” the major argues. “There are a number of courthouses and if we were to separate them, we would have to have lands on which to build them, and have special security arrangements to protect them.”

But, not everyone in the system believes the two arms of justice ought to be separated, citing security concerns.

Westmoreland’s court administrator, Carol Haughton says the existing system makes it easier to secure prisoners who have to make court appearances.

In Montego Bay where the court is a separate facility, she notes, there are concerns about safe transportation.

“They have to be driving from Montego Bay Freeport (police station) to the courthouse with the prisoners each time, whereas down here the police are here, the holding area is here,” she says, pointing to the location. “When you have a court date, you can have two or three police officers who can take them across and you don’t have to worry about transportation.”

A number of police officers agreed.

“(Having) the holding area on the compound with the courthouse (makes) it much easier to handle the prisoners from the cells to the courthouse,” remarks Constable Kirk Johnson of the Lucea police station in Hanover. “When there’s court in Lucea and we have to escort prisoners from (Sandy Bay), anything can happen. There can be a set-up.”

On the issue of the appearance of judicial bias, he says that appearances aside, the police and the court operate independently of each other as they carry out their responsibilities based on the law.

“The police don’t judge people.

The judge… he is the one who decides. The final say rests with the judge (and) it all has to do with the evidence,” he adds.

williamsp@jamaicaobserver.com