A lack of reliable judicial data is hampering efforts to reduce case backlogs and improve court performance across the Caribbean, Chief Justice Leslie Haynes has warned, urging the urgent creation of structured systems to collect and analyse information to guide reform.

As a regional workshop on case management standard operating procedures (SOPs) for the judiciary opened at Hotel Indigo on Thursday, the chief justice said meaningful reform in the justice system would remain difficult without reliable information to guide decision-making.

“We do not have a framework for the collection of data,” he said, noting that data gathering has often been assigned informally to legal assistants, judicial support officers or clerks without clear systems in place.