In an article in last week edition of a weekly newspaper in St Vincent and the Grenadines; Resident High Court Judge Frederick Bruce-lyle made some interesting comments about the standard of law in St Vincent and the Grenadines. He basically said that the Vincentian legal fraternity is a laughing stock. Now going through the section of court reports; I can fully understand why we maybe indeed the laughing stock in the Region. And I believe that the Hon judge himself, maybe the cause of this hilarity.

Take for instance a case where a 18 year old young man by the name of Mike Adams, who raped a 12 year old girl on three separate occasion. While this vile act is most appalling; I was equally appalled at (1) the leniency of the sentencing; and (2) the defense argument put forth by Arthur Williams. First of all, the sentencing of this child rapist was a complete travesty of justice; the perpetrator was placed on a $5,000 bond for five years or an alternative of five years imprisonment. He was also slapped with a 7 pm to 5 am curfew for one year.

Really? And to compound this dotishness, the Hon Judge decided to share some jokes with the court; here is a real funny one, Chris Rock got nothing on Justice Bruce Lyle “You are a very lucky young man. It is because of your age I am not going to send you to prison,” ...“You betrayed her trust and you thief a chance, three times." Noooo!!!, somebody please tell me this is a joke indeed, is this what molesting children in St Vincent and the Grenadines is, thieving a chance? Oh my goodness gracious me...its no wonder sexual violence is on the rampage in SVG; we have Jesters for Judges!

But it gets even more ludicrous, because we also have a jester as the defense lawyer; in putting forth his argument in defending this child rapist, Arthur Williams, told the judge that his client had just left school and was just “trying to experiment". Is this some sort of sick conspiracy on the part of these two jokers to "rape" this child once again? Mr. Williams, had someone raped your 12 year old girl child, would you accept that, well, its not serious, the rapist was just "experimenting" on your child? Mr. Bruce-lyle what if someone raped your 12 year old girl child, would you accept the explanation that the perpetrator was just "thieving a chance" and so don't deserve to go to prison?

Is this the message we are sending to would-be child molesters; that you can rape 12 year old girls and get off scot free in St Vincent and the Grenadines?...yes scot free! because that's what this sentence actually boils down to. I think Frederick Bruce-Lyle and Author Williams has to be the two biggest jesters there is in our legal fraternity...and deserves a bulwood for the insensitive and total disregard to the plight of the Victim.

The legal fraternity is sleeping on the job and needs to wake up! When you have these two senior legal practitioners making a mockery of our legal system; then what does it say about the younger lawyers; are they as hilarious as their older counterparts? Shouldn't there be some investigation into the conduct of these learned men? Shouldn't there be a review of Justice Bruce-Lyle handling of this case? What about the Prosecutor in all this, he or she must be a jester of some repute; is he or she satisfied with the justice meted out to their victim? For all intents and purposes, this child was raped by the legal system of St Vincent and the Grenadines. Well I guess if a policewoman can't get justice in our legal system; what real chance does a 12 year old have? Where did the lawyers of St Vincent and the Grenadines study law, at Miss Muggy Law School? Is that reason for the deafening silence of the legal fraternity during the constitutional debate? Vincentians had to rely on respective political party affiliates to explain the constitution in their own slanted way; not a peep from any partial body of the legal fraternity. “The standards are falling badly and it’s nothing to be proud about... when Barristers in other countries hear what is going on in St Vincent, they laugh at us,” [Justice Bruce-Lyle]

I totally agree, its nothing to be proud of ...then why don't you Justice Bruce-Lyle and your court jesters; stop with the comedy routine.

PS: Just in case I happen to run foul of the law in SVG;please don't hold this against me. This was all a joke...