2025 Legal Year Opens with Plans of Modernisation

The High Court officially opened for the 2025 legal year with a traditional ceremony, beginning with a church service at the Holy Redeemer Cathedral. Chief Justice Louise Blenman inspected the ceremonial guard of honour and delivered an address celebrating the judiciary’s progress.

Blenman spoke on the achievements from 2024, such as the reduction of case backlogs and the introduction of criminal mediation. She said, “We no longer have cases as old as fourteen years…their matters being sent down for trial.”

New initiatives include a professional administrative plan for trained staff and digitalising court processes, with a focus on artificial intelligence.

While progress was acknowledged, Blenman pointed out the ongoing challenge of producing transcripts for Court of Appeal cases, promising improvements with a new speech-to-text system.

The Attorney General, Anthony Sylvestre, discussed upcoming reforms, including a new Bail Act. The ceremony also marked the completion of renovations to the historic court building, which was damaged by Hurricane Lisa in 2022.

President of the Bar Association, William Lindo, commended the judiciary’s achievements over the past year.