Beautiful Virgin Islands

Wednesday, Aug 27, 2025

Covid danger in St Lucia’s tiny courts puts stop to murder trials

Covid danger in St Lucia’s tiny courts puts stop to murder trials

Ninety wait for justice as infection controls prevent juries from sitting for two years

St Lucia has not been able to hold a homicide trial for two years, because courtrooms are too small to safely seat a jury under Covid rules, the Caribbean nation’s director of public prosecutions has said.

The build-up of untried cases is one of the most extreme examples of the damaging impact of the pandemic on access to justice globally. Rule of law has deteriorated around the world, the World Justice Project found. Three-quarters of the countries evaluated for its Rule of Law Index experienced a decline in 2021.

In St Lucia, efforts to control Covid have contributed to a backlog of people waiting for trial, even as the murder rate has risen to record levels, the DPP, Daasrean Greene, told an online event this month marking the start of the legal year in the Eastern Caribbean States.

“My office has not been able to embark on a murder trial since January of 2020,” he told senior judges, magistrates and lawyers and other legal officials from across the region. “There are over 90 persons awaiting trial for the offence of murder, while we continue to struggle with the difficulty of finding appropriate housing for our courts.”

Physical distancing rules meant none of the courtrooms could accommodate the number of jurors required to try offences of murder, he added. Greene’s office did not respond to requests for comment on future plans for prosecution in St Lucia.

The first district court in Castries, St Lucia, where no murder trials have taken place for two years due to Covid restrictions .


The country is in a fifth wave of Covid-19, and was last week added to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention “avoid travel” list. Since the pandemic began, there have been nearly 19,000 infections and more than 340 deaths in a population of fewer than 200,000 people.

St Lucia had struggled with courtroom infrastructure before the pandemic. It does not have a central judicial building, with courts set up in locations including a shopping mall, according to a UN report. “Courts are scattered around the city in inconvenient locations,” it said. “Among other problems, this presents logistical problems for lawyers juggling cases in civil and criminal courts.

“Security, size and other concerns surrounding repurposed court buildings led to protracted suspensions of cases as recently as 2018, with the shutdown in St Lucia contributing to an over 50% reduction in the number of cases heard.”

Covid-19 has turned those difficulties into insoluble problems for St Lucia and serious challenges elsewhere. Neighbouring St Vincent went several months without holding jury trials because of distancing rules.

“The pandemic has been devastating to the criminal justice system in the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States,” said Dame Janice M Pereira, the chief justice of the Eastern Caribbean supreme court, who chaired the gathering.

“Jury trials have been stalled in many of our member states and territories, due mostly to our inability to provide the required physical distancing protocols for a jury in many of our courtrooms.”

However, there had been some benefits from the pandemic including an embrace of digital technology that would, she hoped, improve the courts’ accessibility, efficiency and effectiveness.

“In just over the past year we have seen the use of digital platforms and other innovations becoming significant and essential features of our court system,” she said.

“As COVID-19 lingers on and even beyond the pandemic, digitally driven courts will be critical to the continued administration of justice … There is no turning back,” she said.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Spotify’s Strange Move: The Feature Nobody Asked For – Returns
Manhunt in Australia: Armed Anti-Government Suspect Kills Police Officers Sent to Arrest Him
China Launches World’s Most Powerful Neutrino Detector
How Beijing-Linked Networks Shape Elections in New York City
Ukrainian Refugee Iryna Zarutska Fled War To US, Stabbed To Death
Elon Musk Sues Apple and OpenAI Over Alleged App Store Monopoly
2 Australian Police Shot Dead In Encounter In Rural Victoria State
Vietnam Evacuates Hundreds of Thousands as Typhoon Kajiki Strikes; China’s Sanya Shuts Down
UK Government Delays Decision on China’s Proposed London Embassy Amid Concerns Over Redacted Plans
A 150-Year Tradition to Be Abolished? Uproar Over the Popular Central Park Attraction
A new faith called Robotheism claims artificial intelligence isn’t just smart but actually God itself
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner Purchases Third Property Amid Housing Tax Reforms Debate
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Italian Facebook Group Sharing Intimate Images Without Consent Shut Down Amid Police Investigation
Dutch Foreign Minister Resigns Amid Deadlock Over Israel Sanctions
Trump and Allies Send Messages of Support to Ukraine on Independence Day Amid Ongoing Conflict
China Reels as Telegram Chat Group Shares Hidden-Camera Footage of Women and Children
Sam Nicoresti becomes first transgender comedian to win Edinburgh Comedy Award
Builders uncover historic human remains in Lancashire house renovation
Australia Wants to Tax Your Empty Bedrooms
MotoGP Cameraman Narrowly Avoids Pedro Acosta Crash at Hungarian Grand Prix
FBI Investigates John Bolton Over Classified Documents in High-Profile Raids
Report reveals OpenAI pitched national ChatGPT Plus subscription to UK ministers
Labour set to freeze income tax thresholds in long-term 'stealth' tax raid
Coca‑Cola explores sale of Costa coffee chain
Trial hears dog walker was chased and fatally stabbed by trio
Restaurateur resigns from government hospitality council over tax criticism
Spanish City funfair shut after serious ride injury
Suspected arson at Ilford restaurant leaves three in critical condition
Tottenham beat Manchester City to go top of Premier League
Bank holiday heatwave to hit 30°C before remnants of Hurricane Erin arrive
UK to deploy immigration advisers to West Africa to block fake visas
Nurse who raped woman continued working for a year despite police alert
Drought forces closures of England’s canal routes, canceling boat holidays
Sweet tooth scents: food-inspired perfumes surge as weight-loss drugs suppress appetites
Experts warn Britain dangerously reliant on imported food
Family of Notting Hill Carnival murder victim call event unmanageable
Bunkers, Billions and Apocalypse: The Secret Compounds of Zuckerberg and the Tech Giants
Ukraine Declares De Facto War on Hungary and Slovakia with Terror Drone Strikes on Their Gas Lifeline
Animated K-pop Musical ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Becomes Netflix’s Most-Watched Original Animated Film
New York Appeals Court Voids Nearly $500 Million Civil Fraud Penalty Against Trump While Upholding Fraud Liability
Elon Musk tweeted, “Europe is dying”
Far-Right Activist Convicted of Incitement Changes Gender and Demands: "Send Me to a Women’s Prison" | The Storm in Germany
Hungary Criticizes Ukraine: "Violating Our Sovereignty"
Will this be the first country to return to negative interest rates?
Child-free hotels spark controversy
North Korea is where this 95-year-old wants to die. South Korea won’t let him go. Is this our ally or a human rights enemy?
Hong Kong Launches Regulatory Regime and Trials for HKD-Backed Stablecoins
China rehearses September 3 Victory Day parade as imagery points to ‘loyal wingman’ FH-97 family presence
×