When Chief Justice Bryan Sykes read our April 10, 2022 editorial he erroneously thought we were casting “aspersion on the integrity of regional judges” by charging that their decisions are open to political interference.

He must have skipped rapidly over the second paragraph which stated: “To be very clear, we have never questioned the ‘intellectual process and jurisprudential qualities of Caribbean lawyers’ or the ‘competence of the judges of the CCJ…’ ”

In a kind of Freudian slip, Justice Sykes might have been minded to rise in defence of the politicians we referenced, since we were not questioning the integrity of any judge; which is not to say they cannot be approached by politicians trying to influence outcomes for themselves or connected parties.

Had we not been so besotted with Mr Sykes and not had such lofty expectations of him, we would not have been so utterly disappointed with the poverty of his response to our efforts to put the quality of the justice system at the centre of the debate about remaining with the United Kingdom Privy Council.

We continue to be sorely disappointed that none of those, including Mr Sykes, who have commented on our position has been willing to address the broken system of justice in our region and its vulnerabilities to interference.

We have not conjured up something out of the air: Witnesses are intimidated or killed at will; court files routinely disappear; evidence is frequently contaminated or compromised; cases are sabotaged by corrupt officers; and there is a never-ending backlog of cases, thus denying swift justice and frustrating victims, hence the high murder rate.

Even schoolchildren learn at an early age not to trust the justice system judging by the preponderance of weapons they are taking to school to protect themselves. Guard rings are the latest phenomenon.

Our argument has been bolstered by revelations in this newspaper many months ago, and most recently in our competitor, that rogue justices of the peace are corrupting the system at that grass roots level. These are what we term interference in the justice system.

So, in the face of all that, when Chief Justice Sykes demands more evidence of us, he is merely asking us to carry coals to Newcastle. What’s the point, unless it is to distract us from our central issue — the quality of the justice system.

We wish to reassure justices Sykes and Appeal Court President Patrick Brooks — these concerned leading men of the judiciary — that it is not they whom we fear. Nor do they need feel a desire to defend their territory, because we firmly believe that the justice system is important to prevent Jamaica from going under. It’s bigger than us all.

We know of their considerable talent, hard work, and devotion over these many years crafting a justice system that often defies solution. Surely, there are easier and more lucrative ways to make a living. One must therefore conclude that they do it because they, like us, believe Jamaica is worth it.

We urge all who believe that Jamaica is worth it to join us in this good fight to keep the UK Privy Council as our final court of appeal until we have a justice system that can win the confidence of our people.

To borrow from a compelling quote: “At his best, man is the noblest of all animals; separated from law and justice he is the worst.”