A three-member panel of judges has been appointed to examine several
disciplinary charges filed against the country’s Chief Magistrate Joanne Walsh.
Informed sources say the charges were filed by the Regional Judicial and Legal
Services Commission (JLSC) following an investigation into several complaints
lodged against the Chief Magistrate.
According to the source, the panel of judges has already appointed a legal counsel
to lead the inquiry into the 10 disciplinary charges that Chief Magistrate Walsh
now faces.
Following an investigation authorized by the Judicial and Legal Services
Commission (JLSC), Chief Magistrate Joanne Walsh has been served with 10
disciplinary charges,
The informed source reported that the probe into Walsh’s behavior was conducted
by Justice Stanley John assigned by the Commission.
Walsh, who remains on the bench in the meantime, is expected to defend herself
against those charges, but the source takes the view that she ought to recuse herself
until the conclusion of the inquiry and its recommendations.
When contacted, Attorney-General Steadroy Benjamin declined to comment on the
matter, noting that the matter is entirely out of his hands and is now in the purview
of the Chief Justice of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court.
There has been a long list of complaints lodged against the Chief Magistrate
regarding how she dispenses justice from the bench. Her interactions with
defendants before her, as well as her general attitude towards staff of the
magistracy.
There is also one case in which a senior officer at the St. Johns Police Station had
accused the chief magistrate of conduct unbecoming of her office. The officer said
to be second in command at the station, recorded that she had physically assaulted
him and used indecent language in the presence of junior Court staff.
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