After almost six years of legal wrangling, the fraud trial of former Education Minister and Senator Ruel Reid and his co-accused drew fresh judicial direction on Friday with presiding judge Justice Sanchia Burrell ordering that the matter be fully concluded by July 2027.

“At the risk of stating the obvious, every trial which takes longer than it reasonably should is a waste of limited resources,” Justice Burrell said during case management as she highlighted that come October 2027, the case will enter its seventh year before the court.

The judge noted that the protracted nature of the case has placed in peril the liberty of Reid and the other defendants — his wife Sharen, their daughter Sharelle, former president of the Caribbean Maritime University (CMU) Fritz Pinnock, and Councillor Kim Brown Lawrence (Jamaica Labour Party, Brown’s Town Division).

Citing case law, Burrell highlighted that the primary responsibility for the management of proceedings was dependent on the judge, who must strike a “fair balance” between the interests of the prosecution, the complainants, witnesses, and the community in the timely administration of justice.

The trial has operated in fits and starts since it began on October 6, 2025, affected by scheduling challenges, conflicts with other cases, and other issues.

There were several judicial reviews, the last of which occurred in the Full Court in 2023, where it was ruled the defendants had a case to answer leading to their late 2025 trial date.

Emphasising that time is not unlimited, Burrell, on Friday, added that no one should assume that trials can continue to take as long as “either or both sides may wish or think or assert that they need”.

The judge made several orders to that end, notably that the parties aim to conclude the matter on or before July 2027, and that a clear and realistic timetable be established.

She also ordered that hearing dates be identified through certain months and that the court will sit for four days per week during the trial.

She noted that where attorneys have commitments in other courts, she will accommodate afternoon sittings where possible. Burrell also mandated that attorneys be present for a dedicated case management conference.

The judge, who had previously expressed concern about absences and time frames during the trial, indicated that her orders were an amalgamation of suggestions put forward by the attorneys themselves with the aim of imbuing the trial with some amount of momentum.

“To the accused persons, this approach is intended to bring structure, predictability and momentum to the proceedings… that are, in my humble view, unnecessarily protracted,” she said.

Noting that she had given the matter careful consideration, Burrell said she expects all parties will engage constructively to allow the matter to proceed without further unnecessary delay.

In recent weeks, the ongoing murder trial of six policemen has affected the attendance of three of the attorneys involved in the fraud case.

Last October, when the trial resumed, the defendants pleaded not guilty to an exhaustive list of charges, as the Crown outlined allegations including that the former education minister and his family members instructed a domestic worker to set up an account in which millions were deposited, but controlled the corresponding ATM card.

Crown prosecutors told the court that between March 2016 and October 2019 the five accused participated in a scheme with others unknown, which siphoned off a revised figure of more than $25 million from both the Ministry of Education and CMU.

It is alleged that this money was funnelled through transfers to various accounts either owned or controlled by the accused or handed over in cash, with the recipients either knowing, or reasonably should have known, it was criminal property, resulting in charges of acquisition of criminal property.

Prosecutors allege that fraudulent payments had been made for work that was never done or services which were never provided to either the ministry or university, and that money from these payments was transferred from CMU and MOE to the accused through either third parties or to bank accounts held or controlled by the accused.

Pinnock and Reid are accused of using their roles as public servants to mastermind and effect a scheme in which individuals were being paid on a regular basis by CMU, without knowledge that they were being paid; and in which invoices for goods and services were generated, but not by the individuals being paid, who did not at any time provide the stated services or goods to CMU, resulting in charges of conspiracy to defraud.

The two are also charged with acts of corruption under Section 15 of the Corruption Act; Pinnock for allegedly facilitating the payment of monies from CMU by authorising fraudulent vouchers, and Reid, in his capacity as a minister, for causing money to be paid out from the MOE and CMU for work, goods, and services not provided.