Why the Research?

• Author: Peter Jamadar/Elron Elahie/Richard Jamadar
• Pages: 10-16

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WHY THE RESEARCH?

The Mandate of Procedural Fairness

This research on Intentional Awarenessing broadens and builds on research done by the

Judicial Education Institute of Trinidad and Tobago (JEITT) on procedural fairness,

carried out under the direct guidance of Peter Jamadar (also one of the researchers in this

project), who was chairperson of the Institute from 2009-2019. Another researcher in this

research project, Elron Elahie, was also intimately involved in that JEITT procedural

fairness research and reporting. That research was undertaken during the period 2015-

2017. It produced the following direct outputs: a) Proceeding Fairly (Report), b)

Procedural Fairness A Manual, and c) Reflections of an Interested Observer.5 It also

influenced the following publication, Exploring the Role of the CPR Judge.6

In terms of intent, the purpose of this research was to explore and discover whether

practicing Mindfulness, as Intentional Awarenessing, could positively support judicial

officers in the discharge of their judicial functions in the courtroom, with a special focus

on enabling them to realize the standards of procedural fairness.

The procedural fairness research revealed that in Trinidad and Tobago, court users

considered that there are nine primary elements that impact their perceptions and

experiences of fairness and justice, and which had a direct influence on public trust and

confidence in the administration of justice, with consequential implications for

compliance with court orders and directions, and for recidivism. These nine elements are:

voice, respectful treatment, neutrality, trustworthiness, accountability, understanding,

access to information, availability of amenities, and inclusivity.

In Trinidad and Tobago and globally, people are not only demanding not just access to

justice, but access to fair, equal, and open justice, that is also accountable in more

immediate and practical ways. Individual court users are keenly desirous of a ‘felt-sense’

of justice to be provided and experienced throughout the court process, from beginning

to end, both inside and outside of the courtroom, and in relation to all court systems and

5 Peter Jamadar and Elron Elahie, Proceeding Fairly: Report on the Extent to Which Elements of Procedural Fairness

Exist in the Court Systems of the Judiciary of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago (Judiciary of the Republic of

Trinidad and Tobago, 2018); Kamla Jo Braithwaite, Peter Jamadar, Trisha Dassrath, and Elron Elahie, Procedural

Fairness A Manual (Judiciary of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, 2018); Elron Elahie, Reflections of an

Interested Observer: Ethnographic Musings on the Court User's Experience in T&T (Judiciary of the Republic of

Trinidad and Tobago, 2017)

6 Jamadar and Braithwaite, Exploring