Vocal lobbyist jets off to Yale
SHE’LL mince no words when it comes to her plans for the reform of the justice system, her sheer frustration with the court backlogs and her desire to see Jamaica’s justice system up and running in a modern way.
There’s a hint of excitement in Judge Marlene Malahoo Forte’s eyes as she tells of her expectations for attending Yale University in Connecticut this August, where, after having been selected out of 500 emerging leaders from 100 countries as one of only 18 persons worldwide, she’ll participate in the university’s World Fellows Programme, becoming involved in leadership training to help sharpen her skills.
“I’m honoured, excited, I think it will provide me with a good opportunity given all the resources of Yale, all the expert faculty advisors, to focus on some work and do some research,” she tells all woman from her office at the Corporate Area Civil Court on Sutton Street, where she has worked since October 2005. “The fellowship will expose me to specialised leadership training from an institution which emphasises the highest standards of teaching and research. It will provide me with an opportunity to exchange ideas, broaden my perspectives, and put me in touch with others from different countries and cultures, who are also preparing themselves for future roles of leadership.”
This woman, who over the past 10 years has been lobbying for reform of the justice system at all levels and has been sensitising the public on legal issues, is banking on the four-month course equipping her to “better develop and refine” her sense of what she would like to see happen in Jamaica and the region, particularly in the administration of justice.”
The course will involve leadership training and skill building, which the advisors will tailor to each participant’s individual needs and interests.
And when she returns, it’s back to lobbying for some changes to happen.
“Part of the application required you to submit essays. One I submitted related to the judicial independence of the court. It’s no secret that has been a topical area. I’ve been pushing for reform for a while. I’d like to look at different models of judicial independence, not just what has been happening in Jamaica, but Caricom. I don’t think we’ve really looked at it as openly and broadly as it should be,” she says.
And pushing for reform she has, this 36-year-old dynamo has been very frank, in the media and outside, with her opinions on what should change. Known for launching stinging criticism where it’s due, Malahoo Forte has been preoccupied with judicial independence for the lower courts and how best to enhance this vital aspect of the rule of law in Jamaica. She says she strongly believes in the separation of powers doctrine and thinks that all judges should rightly fall within the judicial arm of government. And as president of the Association of Resident Magistrates, she has lashed out against the government for neglecting RMs and failing to improve their working conditions.
“I’m very committed,” she says. “The cry is for justice, justice everywhere. I have been pushing for reform for a while. I remain hopeful [with the current review of the justice system underway] that some changes will happen. I think it will take time, but I remain hopeful. You can’t be pessimistic.”
It’s that burst of optimism that gets you first about this judge – there’s no pretence, no hiding behind a robe or gavel – indeed the expected stuffiness is replaced by keen fashion sense and bubbly personality which makes her unique.
The Yale World Fellows Programme too is one of a kind. The US Embassy, Malahoo Forte’s nominators in Jamaica, says it’s a competition “where highly accomplished men and women are selected to participate in a four-month leadership programme”.
“World Fellows are selected at early to mid-career point … and are uniformly of star quality with established records of accomplishment and upward trajectory,” the embassy’s Office of Public Affairs said in a statement.
And Judge Malahoo Forte, they say, “exhibits a quiet determination and an unshakable confidence in Jamaica … and has embarked on a life of public service.”
There was never a question that this Mannings old girl would have been in public service, even while she was just racking up prizes at school. The question was just where this girl, raised in Paul Island – “a little community in the middle of the sugarbed” – in Westmoreland would go. She tells all woman that in school she had three passions – law, education and politics, and then there was medicine.
She was very active in the school community at Mannings, involved in Spanish, debating, quiz and ISCF clubs, at one point presiding over four of five at the same time, and coming first in her class every year. She was also a Mannings head girl.
“People seemed to think that I was a natural leader. I just did what needed to be done,” she says, explaining that she persevered with family support even when a lot of her peers didn’t.
The last of seven children, Malahoo Forte says that her parents ensured that they all went to school. “I saw a lot of my peers falling out for one reason or another. I’m grateful that my parents ensured we all went to school. It was go to church and then go to school, and that was it. You couldn’t stay on the street … that was just the way we were.”
When it came time to choose a career path, her choices narrowed.
“I always wanted a profession as opposed to a job. I was always told that I talked a lot, and you know they always say if you talk a lot you’d be a lawyer. [Eventually] it was between lawyer and doctor, and I couldn’t stand the sight of blood, so by default it came down to law.”
Malahoo Forte is a Commonwealth Scholar who holds a Master of Laws degree, with merit, from the University of London, King’s College; a Bachelor of Laws degree, with honours, from the University of the West Indies, Barbados and a Certificate of Legal Education from the Norman Manley Law School.
Before taking up her first judicial appointment in February 2001, she was an assistant Director of Public Prosecutions who was described as “a formidable prosecutor at both the trial and appellate levels, with a success rate of over 98 per cent”.
“Maybe it was my own style of prosecuting, it was a matter of committing to people and reasoning through the biases. I had to ensure that justice was done,” she says, explaining her extraordinary success rate. “It wasn’t a conviction at all costs. If I felt you were innocent I did what I had to do. When I was prosecuting, I always prosecuted very fairly and fiercely.
People think that they can commit crimes and get away with it, but I feel very incensed about that. The innocent should be protected and guilty should be brought to bear.”
Justice Bryan Sykes, a former Senior Deputy DPP, was Malahoo Forte’s immediate supervisor when she joined the office of the DPP.
“Mrs Malahoo Forte is expected to be one of Jamaica’s and the Caribbean region’s leading thinkers and writers in the coming years. In every legal office she has held, her performance has been characterised by the highest level of professionalism and integrity,” he says. “No one has ever questioned her competence. If there are complaints, they are usually about her passionate desire to achieve excellence for herself and her expectation that those who appear before her or work with her should have a similar desire.”
It was this expectation that caused fireworks in St Elizabeth where she was posted for her first judicial appointment. There, Malahoo Forte came face to face with opposition in a jurisdiction mired in case backlogs.
“It was a unique parish,” she says. “It was male dominated at the bar. There was a huge backlog of cases, a culture of delay. Persons would turn up to court at any time and attorneys would come and apply for adjournments. There were matters going back to the ’70s and ’80s. I proceeded to clear the backlog and came up on opposition like you’d never know. It was an unbelievably trying time, quite a traumatic time. But I did what I had to do.”
In fact, in addition to the reluctance of persons there to change years of such behaviour, Malahoo Forte said there were also death threats, as she waded through the battleground.
“I think that deep down [the experience there] kinda brought out little bit of something in me,” she says. “That was the battleground that pulled it out. It wasn’t a matter of respect. It was a matter of people wanting their own way. They were just used to doing as they felt. They weren’t ready for change. One of them told me that the problem they had was that I was young and female. I told them I could do nothing about that…”
After a while things quieted down and she was in St Elizabeth for five years before being reassigned. Today she says she has presided over every jurisdiction of the courts.
“Each is different,” she says. “Each has its own challenges.”
What she leaves in her wake in each court is not only a clear case slate, but model courts. One only has to look at the Sutton Street Court to see her special touch.
“Sutton Street was described as the graveyard. Now they say the dead has been resurrected,” she laughs. “It’s now a model court. The backlog has been cleared, I’ve gotten the outside and chambers painted and the office renovated. They’ll tell you that wherever I sit, the courts never remain the same.”
Malahoo Forte has also fought for material improvement in the welfare of lower court judges and their support staff. She has managed, through continuous lobbying, to secure some essential equipment for the more efficient operation of the magistrates’ courts. Her most recent accomplishment was to successfully secure the payment of a much-needed special housing allowance to the judges of the RM courts. This has come after years of lobbying and repeated failures by her predecessors to convince the government of the need for such an allowance.
“Her petite physical stature belies her strength of character,” says Justice McDonald Bishop.”She is confident and shrewd.
She is a team player who respects the views of others and will always strive to do what is right and just in the interest of others even if she has nothing to personally gain from so acting. She abhors mediocrity and therefore strives for the highest standards of performance in all her undertakings while expecting the same from those with whom she interacts.”
Added Queen’s Counsel RNA Henriques: “She displays a first- class legal mind. As a visionary she sees the challenges ahead and the necessity for intelligent effective leadership to attain beneficial results. She is one of the emerging leaders already distinguished in her profession.”
Currently, Malahoo Forte says a lot of her time is taken up with Association of Resident Magistrates where she’s now serving as president for a third term; with the Women’s Leadership Initiative; with the police on a criminal justice group to improve their effectiveness; and lecturing in Criminal Practice and Procedure at the Norman Manley Law School.
But there’s always downtime. Time with husband and former president of the Court of Appeal, Ian Forte, church, drive outs…
When not working, Malahoo Forte goes to the country, “try to attend to my orchids” and attends church at Swallowfield Chapel.
And there’s Handsome Harry, the Yorkshire Terrier who keeps her company.
“I’ve been very blessed. It’s not what happens to you in life, it’s how you deal with it, what you make of it” she says. ” I know who I am, that is what balances me, and of course I have a wonderful husband who is extremely supportive. And I value my relationship with God more than anything.”
