There is no time line on the appointment of a substantive  Chief Justice for the Supreme Court.

Two months after Sir Hartman Longley has vacated the position of Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Press Secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister Anthony   Newbold told the media at the weekly press briefing that this issue should not be a cause for major alarm.

“Whether or not its unprecedented, nothing is hurt.  The judiciary, the conduct of the business of law, nothing is short-changed or hurt by this.

“Nothing is stopped from functioning, because that is not the case,” Mr. Newbold said.

Despite alarm registered by the Bahamas Bar Association in a recent letter to the Attorney General Carl Bethel on the issue, when asked if the Prime Minister  may have been caught off guard by Sir Hartman’s retirement, Mr. Newbold said that the Prime Minister  was not caught off guard, and it is ultimately his decision  to make.

“No,  the prime minister was not caught off guard. The prime minister did what he thought he had to do and when he decides he has to do something he will do that,” Mr. Newbold said.

Bahamas Bar Association President Khalil Parker recently said the he finds the status quo wholly unacceptable, adding that continued deferment in the matter has a compounding deleterious effect on the perception of the independence of the judiciary and thereby the rule of law.

Former Senior Supreme Court Justice Stephen Issacs currently sits as Acting Chief Justice.