If there’s one thing that remains a perpetual problem on this blessed rock we live on, it’s the time that things take to get done. Permits take months and projects which have been green-lighted somehow manage to get buried under endless reams of paperwork. And then there’s the interminable finger-pointing. It’s always someone else’s remit, someone else’s problem. It’s bad enough when you have to chase different people for a voucher; it’s unthinkable when it comes to a court of law.
There is an elephant in the room. One that many people have been surreptitiously dancing around for some time but one which needs to be addressed nonetheless: the issue of bail and the length of time that people end up on it.
Our courts are overflowing with cases; they drag on for years and years in some instances. While all this is happening, those out on bail while awaiting trial are basically free to conduct their lives almost as they did before they were arrested. This means that they can date, marry and, perhaps, even go on to commit more crimes should the opportunity arise.
In several recent cases, it has been noted time and time again that the alleged perpetrators of a fresh crime were out on bail when the new crime took place. Is this alarming no one? It’s taking our courts so long to get things done that people are literally finding the time to hatch new plots and execute them.
It’s not my job to draw up lists of all the people who have been out on bail for years for allegedly being part of murders but I can think of at least two or three instances where it has happened recently. How does that even come about? Does no one care about the fact that people might act out again given the chance? And what of the trauma and lack of closure of those families waiting for justice? Are they just meant to put their lives on hold while waiting for a case’s outcome?
It’s taking our courts so long to get things done that people are literally finding the time to hatch new plots and execute them- Anna Marie Galea
Can you imagine your daughter or son being murdered and you having to witness their murderer just getting on with his life?
I’ve heard of alleged murderers still having access to the children whose mother they’re accused of killing; I can’t imagine any world where that wouldn’t be unbearable for the victim’s parents.
It shouldn’t take so long for cases to be resolved and the fact that it does shows a very glaring flaw within our system and a disregard for one of the most fundamental pillars that justice rests on, which is that justice delayed is justice denied.
There is no reason why a case should drag on, making it harder for witnesses to remain accountable, for evidence to remain in good condition and for the families of the victims themselves to be able to receive some form of reprieve.
Delays like these serve only to weaken people’s trust in the system and will lead more and more people to feel abandoned and turn to their own methods to seek closure. They also contribute to a culture of impunity where people feel like they can get away with murder because it pretty much feels like they do.
No one should have to wait for so long to be able to move on. How can we say that justice is being done when we are not seeing it be done?