NASSAU, The Bahamas -- When the COVID-19 pandemic forced businesses to shut their doors, the judiciary, as an important component in any society, had to find ways to continue to carry out its duties.

The Bahamas Industrial Tribunal was no exception, and as a result there was heavy reliance on the use of technology to meet the needs.
As such, President of the Bahamas Industrial Tribunal, Indira Demeritte-Francis said several initiatives were undertaken to continue to serve the needs of workers.  During the official opening of the Legal year for the Tribunal, November 21, 2022 at Saffrey Square, President Demeritte-Francis said that many lessons were learnt over the past years.

“The private and public sectors have both learnt viable lessons in this season. We all must now continue to apply these lessons to ensure growth in our legislative reform of the Labour law and jurisprudence in the Labour sector,” she said.

She continued to say that leaders must be visionary, innovative and pragmatic in their efforts to modernize their procedures and processes. As such, she noted several steps have been taken to transform and reform the Tribunal over the course of 8 years, including work done by her predecessor Harrison Lockhart.

She listed some of the actions taken over the years to meet these objectives including: the establishment of fully digitized smart courts, modernization of the case management system, the opening of a new court in Saffrey Square, a new website, and the appointment of two former registrars to expand the Industrial Tribunal with the appointment of Vice-Presidents (former registrars from the Court of Appeal), Sharada Ferguson and Ingrid Cooper-Brooks, and the appointment of Attorney, Rionda Godet for a short-term in the absence of Vice-President Simone Fitzcharles.

Following the official opening ceremony, a seminar in honor of Bahamian ‘Father of Labour’ Sir Randol Fawkes was held at Margaritaville.  The day of events ended with a cocktail reception at Margaritaville Hotel and Resort.