FORMER attorney general Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj, SC, has challenged the Judiciary justification to amend the structure to pay fees for the filing of civil cases.
The Judiciary’s statement was in response to a newspaper article which advised of the proposed move by the rules committee.
The Judiciary claimed there was not a “genuine attempt” to understand what was being considered and why.
The article, published in the Sunday Guardian’s edition of January 29, quoted Maharaj. In his own media release on Wednesday, Maharaj said the Judiciary’s release was misleading since it did not point out any errors or inaccuracies in the statements published in the newspaper.
He said the opposed amendments to the rules imposed heavy burdens on litigants to pay vast increases to the court to file claims in civil matters, defences and other connected proceedings.
Maharaj said the increase in fees would make it harder for litigants to access justice from the civil court and would make it difficult for lawyers to assist their clients in pursuing claims, defences and appeals.
He said the percentage of the increases was as high as 4,900 per cent, in the higher tier, to 900 per cent on the lower rung, up from the existing court fees.
“If litigants do not pay the increased sums, their claims, defences, counterclaims or appeals would be removed from the list of cases and ultimately their matters can be struck out.”
They would then have to apply to have their cases reinstated, Maharaj said, which will be at the discretion of the court.
Maharaj called for consultation with stakeholders and the public before the rules committee made a final decision on the proposed increases.
In its release, the Judiciary said the proposal for a restructuring of the filing fees was for single fees to be paid at certain phases of a case as opposed to multiple fees for every document filed or requested.
“Fees will be paid by the phase of the case and not by the document.” It said, at present, a fee is charged for every document filed and for every “office copy” of an order, a judgment or any document.
“This will no longer be the case.”
It said a single fee will be charged at the following stages: filing and response; case management (if there is no settlement or judgment in default); pre-trial review and trial (if there is no settlement).
“No other filing fees will be charged along the way and no fees will be charged for office copies.”
The Judiciary said during the pandemic, no filing fees were charged. Electronic filing was also introduced.
It said now that systems have been worked out with the Treasury for online payments for electronic filing, there will be a small fee of .08 per cent when paid by credit card or enabled debit card, each time a payment is made online.
Alternatively, a voucher or voucher card for a value of between $20 and $8,000 can be purchased at a cost of $5 for use by attorneys or litigants who represent themselves.
“For this reason among others, the Judiciary sought the support of the rules committee in reducing the number of times one paid in the course of a matter from as many as 50 or 60 times to as few as three or four.
“It allows the Judiciary to streamline its accounting and to be far more efficient.”
It also said like most modern judiciaries, it has moved to electronic filing which provides greater convenience to lawyers and litigants while allowing it to realign its staff to “operate more critical functions in the process.”
The rules committee is led by the Chief Justice and comprises of two judges, two attorneys, the Attorney General and the Registrar.