Springlands Magistrate’s Court still bat-infested

Four months after Attorneys-at-Law walked out of the Springlands Magistrates’ Court in protest over the condition of the building, which was infested with bats, no work has been done to remedy the situation.
In September, lawyers walked out of the court leaving the presiding Magistrate sitting on the bench after their calls for remedial action had gone unheard.
During proceedings, bat droppings would fall on persons in court.

The ceiling was also in need of repair. On August 15, the ceiling just above where Magistrate Rabindranauth Singh sits had collapsed, causing him to adjourn court for the day.
In September, Attorneys Mirza Sahadat, Ryan Crawford, Chandra Sohan and Adrian Anamayah said enough was enough and walked out of the courtroom.
The former Regional Democratic Council Sub-Office, located in Springlands, is currently being used to house the courtroom. Sohan, a former Magistrate, has since said that they were told that the court building would have been repaired within two months. “We have already moved over two months, the building where we are in is inconvenient; the security is very poor and it doesn’t seem as though the Chancellor is making any effort to get the work done and even the building where we are right now there are holes in the roof and bat droppings are coming through there as well; it is only time before that may come down as well.”
This publication understands that lawyers are reluctant to work in that environment, which they consider a major threat to their health.
According to Sohan, both defence lawyers and prosecutors are being inconvenienced with no remedy forthcoming. He noted that while they were not willing to accept any more, they all have clients who do attend court.
“With or without the lawyers, the Magistrate may still go ahead with his court but again the Magistrate doesn’t seem to be in a position where he can do much, because if the Magistrate chooses not to work tomorrow, the Chancellor might fire him. So he has to work and put up with it despite how unhealthy the situation is,” the former Magistrate added.