The government is intent on reforming the court reporting system in order to bring greater efficiency to the courts, Attorney General Allyson Maynard-Gibson told reporters Wednesday.

Mrs. Maynard-Gibson spoke publicly for the first time since court stenographers staged a series of sickouts this week.

The workers have complained that their working conditions are unfair and because many of them are contracted through a private firm, they have no job security.

The company those workers are contracted through is L.E.T Court Reporting Services. Its contract with the government expires in 2014.

Half of the stenographers are pensionable public servants while private contracted workers make up the other half.

The attorney general could not say conclusively what the fate of those contractual workers will be post the end of the government’s contract with LET, but she said serious consideration is being given to create a single unit of court reporters.

“When I was the attorney general previously, we got an independent report and that’s precisely what was suggested; it is being suggested by many other people and is a matter which we are seriously considering,” Mrs. Maynard-Gibson said.

“Most of the people who advocate believe that we will greater efficiencies and in fact, I would say immediate efficiency if we organise the unit as one unit as opposed to two separate units.”

Bringing about reform to the court reporting system, she noted, is a matter of urgency as issues of inefficiency and delays are adversely impacting the country’s rating.

“Regrettably, transcripts routinely are not being delivered on time,” she said. “Matters are being adjourned causing several things to happen including litigants to be experience pain at the criminal courts, experiencing inefficiency and high costs at the civil courts and also causing our country to have a very bad rating in terms of efficiency.”

“We are number 87 on the efficiency rating; that’s not satisfactory and we are doing everything we can to increase that rating and to let the world that we hold high standards – that’s what we expect from Bahamians and that is what we are working towards and I believe that Bahamians will see within short order they will be experiencing the efficiency in the courts that we all expect in this isle.”

While the attorney general would not speak directly to the concerns of the contractual workers only noting that those workers are employed with a private company, she reiterated her stance that cleaning up the system will happen in order to ensure that justice and efficiency are upheld.

“We are insisting that transcripts be delivered on time so that litigants before the courts could have their matters disposed of quickly on the civil side and on the criminal side, persons who wish to swiftly prove their innocence and victims who want their matters swiftly dealt with those matters will be dealt with because the transcripts will be in place,” she said.