{"id":12478,"date":"2018-02-13T15:09:25","date_gmt":"2018-02-13T19:09:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?p=12478"},"modified":"2018-02-13T15:09:25","modified_gmt":"2018-02-13T19:09:25","slug":"jamaica-judges-critical-of-statements-made-by-pm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/jamaica-judges-critical-of-statements-made-by-pm\/","title":{"rendered":"JAMAICA-Judges critical of statements made by PM"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"antig-2491872483\" class=\"antig-ecab antig-entity-placement\"><a href=\"https:\/\/discoverflow.co\/web\/antigua\" aria-label=\"ANU CVP Digital Broadband 1200x400_1\"><img src=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1201\/h:401\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg\" alt=\"\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1201\/h:401\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg 1201w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:300\/h:100\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg 300w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1024\/h:342\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:768\/h:256\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px\" width=\"1201\" height=\"401\"   \/><\/a><\/div><div id=\"antig-2344349795\" class=\"antig-before-content antig-entity-placement\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/medicalbenefitsscheme\" aria-label=\"ce741a73-c70c-446b-af7f-da2abe2b62bb\"><img src=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1200\/h:400\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/ce741a73-c70c-446b-af7f-da2abe2b62bb.jpeg\" alt=\"\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1200\/h:400\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/ce741a73-c70c-446b-af7f-da2abe2b62bb.jpeg 1200w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:300\/h:100\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/ce741a73-c70c-446b-af7f-da2abe2b62bb.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1024\/h:341\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/ce741a73-c70c-446b-af7f-da2abe2b62bb.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:768\/h:256\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/ce741a73-c70c-446b-af7f-da2abe2b62bb.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px\" width=\"1200\" height=\"400\"   \/><\/a><\/div><p>Nearly 100 judges have called on Prime Minister Andrew Holness to retract statements he made recently regarding the appointment of a Chief justice \u00a0and to publicly acknowledge that the head of the judiciary is not answerable to him.<\/p><div id=\"antig-834322227\" class=\"antig-content_5 antig-entity-placement\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ablpag\" aria-label=\"ABLP_Red-&#038;-Reddy_Web_1000x250\"><img src=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1000\/h:250\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/ABLP_Red-Reddy_Web_1000x250.png\" alt=\"\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1000\/h:250\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/ABLP_Red-Reddy_Web_1000x250.png 1000w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:300\/h:75\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/ABLP_Red-Reddy_Web_1000x250.png 300w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:768\/h:192\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/ABLP_Red-Reddy_Web_1000x250.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px\" width=\"1000\" height=\"250\"   \/><\/a><\/div>\n<p>The 97 judges from the Court of Appeal, the Supreme Court and Parish Courts here said it was \u201cnecessary to publicly register our grave concern regarding some statements made by the Honourable Prime Minister, following the appointment of the Honourable Mr. Justice Bryan Sykes to act as Chief Justice of Jamaica as of February 1, 2018.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_191765\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"http:\/\/cananewsonline.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Court-jamaica.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-191765 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/cananewsonline.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Court-jamaica.jpg\" alt=\"Court jamaica\" width=\"400\" height=\"216\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Courts were closed on Monday (Jamaica Observer photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Holness is quoted as saying that \u201cactions that brings results will determine the assumption of the role of chief justice\u201d.<\/p><div id=\"antig-67507379\" class=\"antig-content_4 antig-entity-placement\"><a href=\"https:\/\/discoverflow.co\/web\/antigua\" aria-label=\"ANU CVP Digital Broadband 1200x400_1\"><img src=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1201\/h:401\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg\" alt=\"\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1201\/h:401\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg 1201w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:300\/h:100\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg 300w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1024\/h:342\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:768\/h:256\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px\" width=\"1201\" height=\"401\"   \/><\/a><\/div><div id=\"antig-2466341043\" class=\"antig-content_12 antig-entity-placement\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ablpag\" aria-label=\"ABLP_Red-&#038;-Reddy_Web_1000x250\"><img src=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1000\/h:250\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/ABLP_Red-Reddy_Web_1000x250.png\" alt=\"\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1000\/h:250\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/ABLP_Red-Reddy_Web_1000x250.png 1000w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:300\/h:75\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/ABLP_Red-Reddy_Web_1000x250.png 300w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:768\/h:192\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/ABLP_Red-Reddy_Web_1000x250.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px\" width=\"1000\" height=\"250\"   \/><\/a><\/div>\n<p>But the judges said \u201cby his unfortunate comments the Honourable Prime Minister, the head of the Executive branch of Government and a member of the Legislature, has sought to place the head of the judiciary, a separate and equal arm of Government, under his supervision, direction and control, and subject to a process of evaluation by him.<\/p><div id=\"antig-1138172866\" class=\"antig-content antig-entity-placement\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.antiguabarbudaculinarymonth.com\/\" aria-label=\"culinary\"><img src=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1920\/h:843\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/culinary-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1920\/h:843\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/culinary-scaled.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:300\/h:132\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/culinary-scaled.jpg 300w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1024\/h:450\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/culinary-scaled.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:768\/h:337\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/culinary-scaled.jpg 768w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1536\/h:675\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/culinary-scaled.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1920\/h:842\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/culinary-scaled.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1124\"   \/><\/a><\/div>\n<p>\u201cThis is clearly inappropriate and in breach of the fundamental doctrine of the separation of powers. We ask the Prime Minister to retract his statements and to publicly acknowledge that the Chief Justice is not answerable to him,\u201d the judges said in their lengthy statement.<\/p>\n<p>They said \u201cour concern is heightened as this is against a background of previous statements made by other members of the executive that have crossed the line of the separation of powers and have had the effect of undermining the independence of the judiciary\u201d.<\/p><div id=\"antig-3352634786\" class=\"antig-content_2 antig-entity-placement\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.courts.com\/antigua\/\" aria-label=\"500X500 (1)\"><img src=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:500\/h:500\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/500X500-1.jpg\" alt=\"\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:500\/h:500\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/500X500-1.jpg 500w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:300\/h:300\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/500X500-1.jpg 300w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:150\/h:150\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/500X500-1.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" width=\"500\" height=\"500\"   \/><\/a><\/div>\n<p>The judges said they recognise and \u201cdeeply regret the inconvenience to litigants, attorneys and members of the public across the island caused by Monday\u2019s meeting in Kingston\u201d that resulted in the closure of the courts here.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHowever, in light of the gravity of the concerns and in the interest of the country\u2019s democracy and justice system, it was considered an absolute necessity. For those persons inconvenienced, we will endeavour to ensure their matters are rescheduled for the earliest possible time. Where necessary we will be sitting for extended periods to achieve this.\u201d<\/p><div id=\"antig-1904890110\" class=\"antig-content_3 antig-entity-placement\"><a href=\"https:\/\/chtamarketplace.com\/\" aria-label=\"Social FaceBook Cover Desk_Mobile\"><img src=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1920\/h:711\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Social-FaceBook-Cover-Desk_Mobile-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1920\/h:711\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Social-FaceBook-Cover-Desk_Mobile-scaled.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:300\/h:111\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Social-FaceBook-Cover-Desk_Mobile-scaled.jpg 300w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1024\/h:379\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Social-FaceBook-Cover-Desk_Mobile-scaled.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:768\/h:285\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Social-FaceBook-Cover-Desk_Mobile-scaled.jpg 768w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1536\/h:569\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Social-FaceBook-Cover-Desk_Mobile-scaled.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1920\/h:711\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Social-FaceBook-Cover-Desk_Mobile-scaled.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px\" width=\"2560\" height=\"949\"   \/><\/a><\/div>\n<p>The judges said that they wanted to make it clear that \u201cwe do not speak on behalf of the acting Chief Justice, and are acting independently of him and without his concurrence in indicating our disquiet.<\/p><div id=\"antig-3838039291\" class=\"antig-content_6 antig-entity-placement\"><a href=\"https:\/\/discoverflow.co\/web\/antigua\" aria-label=\"ANU CVP Digital Broadband 1200x400_1\"><img src=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1201\/h:401\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg\" alt=\"\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1201\/h:401\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg 1201w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:300\/h:100\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg 300w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1024\/h:342\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:768\/h:256\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px\" width=\"1201\" height=\"401\"   \/><\/a><\/div>\n<p>\u201cWe make no comment in respect of the ongoing debate surrounding the question whether the acting appointment of Chief Justice Sykes is unconstitutional, illegal or otherwise invalid. That is a matter for adjudication in a properly constituted court, if it should become necessary. We do not express any views on that issue.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But they said \u201cit is, however, our considered view that declarations of the Prime Minister relative to the acting appointment unquestionably have serious implications for the fundamental principles of the separation of powers and the independence of the judiciary.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese are principles of great jurisprudential value as they form the foundation of our constitutional democracy and which are critical imperatives for the protection and preservation of the Rule of Law.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The judges said that while they welcome the focus of the Prime Minister on the administration of justice and acknowledge the concerns he raised about inefficiencies, deficiencies and delays in the justice system \u201cwe also accept and share the view that much more needs to be done to achieve timely justice outcomes\u201d<\/p>\n<p>They said that while they also accept that the judicial branch of government is independent and should remain so, \u201cit is also accountable to the public.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe, therefore, support any system geared towards enhancing judicial efficiency and accountability in the pursuit of timely justice outcomes. However, judicial efficiency and accountability, cannot be achieved at the expense of judicial independence and the Rule of Law.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAny mechanism employed to achieve efficiency and accountability must be consistent with the principles of separation of powers and the independence of the judiciary.\u00a0 We fear, in the light of recent developments, that some have lost sight of the crucial need to ensure that the three arms of Government function together in a way that is complementary of each other and consistent with the spirit of the Constitution and the intention of its framers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In their statement, the judges said that it should be clearly recognised that the safeguards of separation of powers and independence of the judiciary are not intended for the benefit of the judges who are the office holders.<br \/>\n\u201cRather they are intended for the benefit and protection of Jamaican citizens and all others who come within our jurisdiction. For that reason, judges must be free to enforce the laws of the land, \u201cwithout fear or favour, affection or ill-will\u201d, which they are sworn to do.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor the judiciary to adequately and appropriately perform its constitutional functions and maintain its authority and legitimacy, judicial independence must be zealously safeguarded and preserved.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>They said with regards to judicial accountability, they are urging \u201cthat the nature and scope of judicial accountability to the populace we are sworn to serve, should operate in a manner that faithfully preserves the independence of the Judiciary and the separation of powers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe vital importance of these fundamental principles was clearly established in the seminal decision of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in Hinds v the Queen [1977] 1 A.C. 195. There is no room within our constitutional framework for one arm of government to impinge on the authority of another.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The judges said that they recognise the desirability of the continued modernisation of the judicial system including possible changes in the way judges are assigned, continued focus on efficient criminal and civil case management, the allowance for scheduled time to write judgments, and the increasing use of technology to enhance efficiency.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt must however be recognised that while we all have to operate within the constraints of Jamaica\u2019s tight fiscal space, without substantially increased inputs into the justice system, in terms of the physical stock of courtrooms, additional human resources at all levels and the provision of the necessary tools utilised within the system, the desirable levels of improvement cannot be achieved or sustained.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis in a context where inadequate investments in the justice sector has been a feature of successive Governments since independence.<\/p>\n<div id=\"antig-546030313\" class=\"antig-in-comments_2 antig-entity-placement\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/@hadeedmotorsltd\" aria-label=\"Hadeed_WEB_Banner_MG-2\"><img src=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1000\/h:250\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Hadeed_WEB_Banner_MG-2.png\" alt=\"\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1000\/h:250\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Hadeed_WEB_Banner_MG-2.png 1000w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:300\/h:75\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Hadeed_WEB_Banner_MG-2.png 300w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:768\/h:192\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Hadeed_WEB_Banner_MG-2.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px\" width=\"1000\" height=\"250\"   \/><\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nearly 100 judges have called on Prime Minister Andrew Holness to retract statements he made recently regarding the appointment of a Chief justice \u00a0and to publicly acknowledge that the head of the judiciary is not answerable to him. The 97 judges from the Court of Appeal, the Supreme Court and Parish Courts here said it [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3063,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12478","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-regional"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.1 (Yoast SEO v24.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>JAMAICA-Judges critical of statements made by PM - Antigua News Room<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/jamaica-judges-critical-of-statements-made-by-pm\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"JAMAICA-Judges critical of statements made by PM\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Nearly 100 judges have called on Prime Minister Andrew Holness to retract statements he made recently regarding the appointment of a Chief justice \u00a0and to publicly acknowledge that the head of the judiciary is not answerable to him. The 97 judges from the Court of Appeal, the Supreme Court and Parish Courts here said it [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/jamaica-judges-critical-of-statements-made-by-pm\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Antigua News Room\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/antiguanewsroom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-02-13T19:09:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Anr-andrew-holness.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"460\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"345\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Editor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@AntiguaNewsRoom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@AntiguaNewsRoom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Editor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/jamaica-judges-critical-of-statements-made-by-pm\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/jamaica-judges-critical-of-statements-made-by-pm\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Editor\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/36cac05ef6398fe56ae3e6317f8535c5\"},\"headline\":\"JAMAICA-Judges critical of statements made by PM\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-02-13T19:09:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-02-13T19:09:25+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/jamaica-judges-critical-of-statements-made-by-pm\/\"},\"wordCount\":1051,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/jamaica-judges-critical-of-statements-made-by-pm\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:460\/h:345\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Anr-andrew-holness.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Regional\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/jamaica-judges-critical-of-statements-made-by-pm\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/jamaica-judges-critical-of-statements-made-by-pm\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/jamaica-judges-critical-of-statements-made-by-pm\/\",\"name\":\"JAMAICA-Judges critical of statements made by PM - 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