Quite rightly, there is plenty of talk about the need to strengthen institutions and systems as the society seeks to grapple with a wide range of issues including governance, the dispensation of justice and the fight against crime.

All too often, though, those of us who delve into ideas and pontificate on a range of issues forget the role of individuals in ensuring that systems and institutions do work for the betterment of ordinary people.

Most, if not all of us, are aware of cases where despite being hamstrung by rundown infrastructure and all sorts of systemic inadequacies public servants by dint of their diligence, dedication, patience and concern for others have been able to make a real and positive difference.

We are also aware of cases where the reverse is true.

The above was brought forcefully to mind by Friday’s article on the front page of this newspaper which told the sad story of a man being jailed because after six hours of waiting to be heard in the Trelawny Circuit Court, he wasn’t there when his name was called.

For those readers who missed the article, it was reported that the accused man, who had previously pleaded guilty to carnal abuse, was the fourth person on the judge’s sentencing list. We are told that the lawyer of the accused left the court after agreeing with the judge that the carnal abuse issue would be dealt with on the following day because of the burdensome caseload.

The accused man, having waited for six hours, was said to have gone to a nearby shop when his name was called for him to present himself in court. The Observer story graphically describes how the accused man urged on by onlookers, including police personnel, hurried to present himself. His footsteps, according to the article, could actually be heard when the judge, apparently affronted at having to wait, “ordered a bench warrant and instructed the court inspector to adjourn the court”.

We are told that “the inspector complied with the judge’s orders and adjourned the court, seconds before the exhausted accused entered the doorway as the judge was retiring to her chambers”.

Perhaps there is more to this issue than meets the eye. Most certainly after a hard day the judge and other officials of the Court would have been weary – especially given the well-established inefficiencies and inadequacies of the Jamaican court system.

But the story, as told, confirms a worrying impression held by many in the public domain that some judges and officers of the court are insensitive to the realities of ordinary, often very poor and inarticulate people who come before them. The stark, painful truth is that many Jamaicans see the entire justice system as tyrannical in its posture and modus operandi.

That negative perception must change if the justice system – which is being slowly dragged into modernity – is to ever gain the support of all and sundry for the greater good of us all. The reported episode at the Trelawny Circuit Court most certainly won’t help.