HARLEY MITCHELL

Speeding up local justice

The criminal discharge plan has helped overburdened courts, decreasing the number of prisoners waiting for a trial

FATIMA ASVAT
fasvaststar@laestrella.com.pa

PANAMA. After a scheduled visit to the “la joya” and “la joyita” prisons in January 2008, the President of the Supreme Court Harley Mitchell along with the Court’s Vice-President were concern with the alarming number of people detained and still awaiting a proper trial.

By March, they created the criminal discharge plan, assigning judges to work on cases waiting for an outcome in the penal court, giving priority to those thrown into jail as they awaited trial.

Eleven months into the project the effects are already starting to show. Judges were sent to specific courts with substantial backlogs, including the First Circuit Court of Panama and the Second Superior Tribunal in the First Judicial District. In the former’s case, the court’s productivity increased, with 63 percent of hearings taking place as opposed to 56 percent in the previous year. Similarly, the number of resolved cases increased by 56 percent in 2008 (with 4707 resolutions) compared to 2007.

By the end of 2008, the number of cases pending resolution decreased by six percent compared to 2007.

In the Second Superior Tribunal of the First Judicial District, the judges dictated 66 percent more resolutions compared to 2007, speeding up the process for 372 people, 318 of whom were detained.

According to statistics from the Prison System, the prison population at the beginning of the project had 3,126 detainees waiting for a trial, while in December 29 of the same year there were 20.2 percent less (2,493), denoting the overall success that the plan has shown in providing justice.

The plan has also helped the Justice Department find and address mistakes or bad practices in different courts, as well as providing the opportunity to assess the work by collaborating entities such as the National Police and the Judicial Investigation Directive (DIJ).

Given the success experienced so far, the Justice Department is planning to extend the program to the Third Judicial Circuit in Chorrera by April.

Similarly, the Supreme Court of Justice is looking for ways of expanding the initiative from only the penal courts to civil, family, labor, and children’s and adolescence courts hoping to spread the success.

With this in mind municipal judges in less burdened districts will be made available to help tribunals with a work overload.

Publicidad