Magistrate on emergency leave
Court matters at the Grenville Magistrate Court are expected to resume on July 4th, as a result of Magistrate Francine Foster, the presiding magistrate having to go on emergency leave, following the death of a loved one.
The courtroom has been closed to court matters for the past two weeks and would remain non-operational until the return of the magistrate, a source said.
Therefore, all matters carded for that period that she is absent were adjourned to new dates.
One man who had a matter in court that already had numerous adjournments and was again adjourned without being started, felt that the court should have structures in place to deal with situations like these when they arise.
This, he said, would account for the backlog of cases, when a presiding magistrate goes on leave, another magistrate should temporarily replace that magistrate to dispose of some of the newer matters thereby preventing some of the backlog the court experiences time and time again.
Many old matters are yet to be started, many old matters that have started and not yet completed, while many new matters are just been lodged at the court.
Magistrate Foster took over at Grenville a few months ago, replacing Magistrate Nevelyn John who served at the Grenville Magistrate Court for over ten years.
Magistrate John has since been transferred to another jurisdiction.
However, Magistrate John still sits on several matters at the Grenville Magistrate Court, which were started by her and are to be completed.
Some of these matters that were started by Magistrate John, if they were not completed by her, Magistrate Foster would have to have them restarted.
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