KINGSTON, Jamaica—The argument of scrapping jury trials and using the plea bargaining system a lot more as possible ways to slash backlog in the courts has come to the fore, with Chief Justice Bryan Sykes pointing out that there is currently a backlog of 3,000 cases, out of which 1,000 are before the Home Circuit Court in downtown Kingston.

Sykes was delivering remarks during the swearing-in ceremony for four judges and two masters-in- chamber.

The ceremony was held at King’s House in Kingston.

“To see that the debate has occupied not just us, for those of us who have been following what has been happening in England and Wales, Sir Brian Leveson was tasked by the government to solve the problem of a backlog of 78, 000 cases. He was appointed in 2024, and they, like us, are setting cases four and five years down the road.

“The government has recognised that this is not sustainable; something has to happen. Among the more controversial recommendations was the curtailment of jury trials. The home of jury trials is now saying maybe we need to rethink the jury system, having regard to the cases that are in backlog, and the estimate is that unless something is done, the backlog will reach 100, 000 by 2028, going into 2030,” Sykes pointed out.

“The question now of timely justice is a significant one,” he added.

Sykes highlighted that the United States, for quite some time, had a major problem with backlog, a strong plea bargaining system; among other things, they managed to slash backlog significantly.

“It’s not just a question that is here. It also occupied the United States for quite some time because, until you have the adversarial system coming to full maturity, cases were disposed of relatively quickly. The Americans recognised then in the 1800s and now that you cannot try every single case, hence plea bargaining.

“In the federal system, over 97 per cent of cases there are disposed of through the plea bargaining system. It is something for the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions to consider because we cannot try our way out of the backlog that we have. It is just simply impossible.

“I am suggesting to the prosecution that in every single case that they have, they come with a position that they are prepared to present to the defence as to how to dispose of the matter properly and fairly. The current system simply cannot continue. When I had mentioned this a few years ago, the then minister of justice had promised to look into it, but so far, nothing has happened. What is quite clear is that the jury system is in need of reform. Nonetheless, we press on to serve our people as best we can,” Sykes said.