Justice Dale Fitzpatrick criticized delays in court cases in The Bahamas while presiding over the case involving former Chief Superintendent of Police, Michael Johnson and others last week. He opined that the delays will crush the system.

Former Prime Minister and noted attorney, the Rt. Hon. Hubert Ingraham issued a letter in support of Justice Fitzpatrick’s statement this week. Mr. Ingraham said too many cases take too long to get to trial. He also cited a recent case where the jury acquitted an accused murderer saying, “the incident took place in 2019, and the matter did not come to trial until 2025, some six years later. Indeed, there was a murder trial heard in 2024 concerning an incident which occurred in 2013.”

Mr. Ingraham also said that judged are inefficient at managing their time and have take too long to deliver judgements. “There are known cases where judges take more than three years to deliver their judgments. Indeed, some have retired without giving a written reasoned judgment for oral decisions they have made. This is simply inexcusable.”

The former Prime Minister also said lawyers are contributing to the backlog by overcommitting themselves and showing up unprepared. He also said that the Office of the Public Defender is under resourced.

Justice Dale Fitzpatrick was appointed in January 2025. He said that he will be cutting the witness list to the most credible and will dedicate one month to the trial in March 2026.