In the name of defence....
This week has been amazing! Screaming in my office to avoid crushing someone's skull has become a daily phenomenon. And NO, I am not hormonal - hee hee, despite last post! Give me another couple of weeks and quite possibly the news from our hallowed halls may not be so pleasant. That Stress Quiz was not kidding....
But before I being what may soon become a daily rant - CONGRATULATIONS to SS, who has just been awarded pupillage at Doughty Street. Love you girl and well deserved! Here is to all the amazing things I just know you are going to add to that inspiring life you already lead! Respect!
I have been privileged to observe the lengths defence counsel will go to be truly incompetent. And to think they get paid almost more money than God to do this incenses me.
For example, what kind of idiot submits a motion that is incomplete, has annexes in a foreign language without the benefit of a translation, provides documents to support their case that have missing pages, expects the Court to guess at what it is they are asking for because no one can actually decipher exactly when sentences begin or end......AND gets upset because the Court has taken over a week to decide on their motion!!!!!
AND after all this still expects the Court to make a decision in their favour? Arghhhhh!
And furthermore, during examination of their own witness, has no clue what document THEIR witness is referring to, has no idea if the document they just handed THEIR witness is the same document they are referring to AND cannot remember their OWN witness' name or particulars. THEN asks for an adjournment to consult with the witness and examine the documents!
To make matters even more interesting, defence counsel seeks an adjournment because having to both examine witnesses during the day and prepare for the next day over night is more than should be asked of a person and is severely affecting his/her health. GET OVER IT!
Further, another Defence counsel was recently upset with the Court because his/her client had been lounging in the luxury resort of the UN Detention Facility for over 3 years without being brought to trial. Understandable! Yes, I agree that this could qualify as an infringement of an individual's right to a speedy trial. However, how can you then in the same breath claim that you are NOT ready, once given a trial commencement date 3 months away????!!!! AND ask for another year to prepare! You have been on the case for over TWO YEARS!
My second favourite so far is counsel telling the Court that trial must be adjourned because they are unable to call witnesses in the order in which they want, due to the fact that 2 of their OWN witnesses have refused to testify. Ofcourse it would be highly inconvenient for them to have to change their defence strategy from the one they have been planning for 3 bloody years. So let us all waste even more court time, allow the period that those witnesses were supposed to testify elapse and resume trial at your convenience. Yes why not? We have nothing better to do.
My favourite, which I unfortunately cannot blog about at present, involves the human right to have sex! Yes you read that correctly. The human right to have sex! My probably very obvious views on that coming soon. The language of human rights has been taken to new levels. You will be amazed what violations of "human rights" have occurred in this institution.
It continously amazes me how counsel get away with incredibly sloppy, sometimes incomprehensible, often clearly 'taking the piss' motions BECAUSE they KNOW they can get away with it. So what if disclosure occurs 8 months after the Court ordered it FOUR times. So what if you have no clue who your witnesses are going to be. So what if exhibits have not been filed for over a year. The Court will not sack them. The Accused seem content with it all because to the normal person, all the hot air secreted into the judicial atmosphere sounds like counsel is protecting their supposedly violated human rights. Sadly this behaviour is simply accepted.
Yes my head is in my hands! The thought of having to go in tomorrow to deal with even more of this bull, is traumatizing.
There is so much more other shit that comes before the different Courts that were I to begin to elaborate, would possibly result in my being handed the pink form and escorted to the doors by the very nice security guards. But it is crazy. I am all for the rights of defendants - I infact vowed never to work for the Prosecution ever again after my brief stint in the Hague, or any State organization after the legal draconian wonders the Home Secretary in the UK exhibits on an almost daily basis. However, short of walking down those steps and writing the bloody thing myself, the desire to strangle is becoming overwhelming. The urge to defect to the other side is almost, and i mean only 'almost', overpowering. Urghhhh!
(I think my brief encounter with the infliction, colloquially termed as "not giving a shit" is over - hee hee!)
But before I being what may soon become a daily rant - CONGRATULATIONS to SS, who has just been awarded pupillage at Doughty Street. Love you girl and well deserved! Here is to all the amazing things I just know you are going to add to that inspiring life you already lead! Respect!
I have been privileged to observe the lengths defence counsel will go to be truly incompetent. And to think they get paid almost more money than God to do this incenses me.
For example, what kind of idiot submits a motion that is incomplete, has annexes in a foreign language without the benefit of a translation, provides documents to support their case that have missing pages, expects the Court to guess at what it is they are asking for because no one can actually decipher exactly when sentences begin or end......AND gets upset because the Court has taken over a week to decide on their motion!!!!!
AND after all this still expects the Court to make a decision in their favour? Arghhhhh!
And furthermore, during examination of their own witness, has no clue what document THEIR witness is referring to, has no idea if the document they just handed THEIR witness is the same document they are referring to AND cannot remember their OWN witness' name or particulars. THEN asks for an adjournment to consult with the witness and examine the documents!
To make matters even more interesting, defence counsel seeks an adjournment because having to both examine witnesses during the day and prepare for the next day over night is more than should be asked of a person and is severely affecting his/her health. GET OVER IT!
Further, another Defence counsel was recently upset with the Court because his/her client had been lounging in the luxury resort of the UN Detention Facility for over 3 years without being brought to trial. Understandable! Yes, I agree that this could qualify as an infringement of an individual's right to a speedy trial. However, how can you then in the same breath claim that you are NOT ready, once given a trial commencement date 3 months away????!!!! AND ask for another year to prepare! You have been on the case for over TWO YEARS!
My second favourite so far is counsel telling the Court that trial must be adjourned because they are unable to call witnesses in the order in which they want, due to the fact that 2 of their OWN witnesses have refused to testify. Ofcourse it would be highly inconvenient for them to have to change their defence strategy from the one they have been planning for 3 bloody years. So let us all waste even more court time, allow the period that those witnesses were supposed to testify elapse and resume trial at your convenience. Yes why not? We have nothing better to do.
My favourite, which I unfortunately cannot blog about at present, involves the human right to have sex! Yes you read that correctly. The human right to have sex! My probably very obvious views on that coming soon. The language of human rights has been taken to new levels. You will be amazed what violations of "human rights" have occurred in this institution.
It continously amazes me how counsel get away with incredibly sloppy, sometimes incomprehensible, often clearly 'taking the piss' motions BECAUSE they KNOW they can get away with it. So what if disclosure occurs 8 months after the Court ordered it FOUR times. So what if you have no clue who your witnesses are going to be. So what if exhibits have not been filed for over a year. The Court will not sack them. The Accused seem content with it all because to the normal person, all the hot air secreted into the judicial atmosphere sounds like counsel is protecting their supposedly violated human rights. Sadly this behaviour is simply accepted.
Yes my head is in my hands! The thought of having to go in tomorrow to deal with even more of this bull, is traumatizing.
There is so much more other shit that comes before the different Courts that were I to begin to elaborate, would possibly result in my being handed the pink form and escorted to the doors by the very nice security guards. But it is crazy. I am all for the rights of defendants - I infact vowed never to work for the Prosecution ever again after my brief stint in the Hague, or any State organization after the legal draconian wonders the Home Secretary in the UK exhibits on an almost daily basis. However, short of walking down those steps and writing the bloody thing myself, the desire to strangle is becoming overwhelming. The urge to defect to the other side is almost, and i mean only 'almost', overpowering. Urghhhh!
(I think my brief encounter with the infliction, colloquially termed as "not giving a shit" is over - hee hee!)
posted by Snapshots of ... at 9:02 AM
2 Comments:
God bless you and your work. Never in my wildest dreams would I have become a lawyer- too much reading and discussion.
You know we cannot help but be friends, as a matter of fact I am one of those you would have to call Auntie.
Bless you. Ati 'Tata'? Where? A ki-mrembo kairitu like you? ;-)
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