More prosecutors have been hired in preparation for the opening of four “temporary” Supreme Courts, according to Attorney General Allyson Maynard-Gibson.

The courts will occupy the building previously used by Police Prosecutions and Magistrates’ Courts Nos. 8 and 5 in Bank Lane.

Although the courts are being described as temporary, Maynard-Gibson was unable to say how long they will be in use.

“This depends on the time that it takes to break the back of the backlog and have matters routinely brought on for trial within a reasonable period of time,” she told the Bahama Journal recently.

“The courts are coming along well too. We expect that they should be completed and ready for occupation by the end of the month. I know contractors are working around the clock so we will get our people in there very soon.”

The attorney general said additional bailiffs, who are responsible for recruiting jurors, will be engaged but noted that the chief justice will determine where they go.

Last year, a staff shortage in the bailiffs’ office was the reason that two courts did not have the required complement of 48 jurors to begin the selection process.

Mrs. Maynard-Gibson remained tight-lipped on which people have been identified to serve in the four new courts once they are completed.

“It’s the role of the executive to fund the positions and it is the role of the judiciary, specifically the Judicial and Legal Services Commission to actually place the judges there,” she said.

The Bahama Journal understands that several attorneys are being reviewed to become judges.
The attorneys, according to sources, are from both the private and public sector.