On Friday April 8, 2022, several dozen lawyers in gowns accompanied by Marie Suzy Legros, president of the Bar Association of Port-au-Prince, demonstrated in front of the residence of Prime Minister ai Ariel Henry to protest against insecurity, the assassinations and kidnappings that afflict them.

"In February, we had 7 kidnappings in our ranks and a lawyer was killed," Marie Suzy Legros told AFP. Recall that in January 2022 another lawyer Me Fritz Alténor was shot and killed while driving his vehicle https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-35769-haiti-news-zapping.html

The insecurity that reigns in the area of ​​the Palace of Justice is one of their main grievances. Few lawyers even dare to go to court located near a slum controlled by Haiti's most powerful gangs. In addition, several judges see their life and that of their family threatened, do not have protection to carry out the investigation of the cases for which they are responsible and sometimes some are forced to flee abroad with their family...

In recent years, the gangs have grown in power and spread throughout the capital and the country, committing more and more murders and kidnappings for ransom. Lawyers are exasperated and frustrated with a justice system that lacks the resources to function properly.

"Sometimes, gang members enter the courthouse to look for their accomplices or their brothers, depending on the name they are given, to help them escape," denounced Mr. Legros.

Moreover, the state of decrepitude of the courts defies reason deplores the Batonnière Legros “[...] Without a functional court, the feeling of impunity grows and without justice there is no country," she concluded.

With a paralyzed judicial system and one of the highest prison overcrowding in the world (Haiti first in the world in 2016 https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-23478-haiti-flash-haiti-world-champion-of-prison-overcrowding.html ) the situation is only getting worse

The judicial situation will encounter new difficulties as the clerks will go on an indefinite strike from Tuesday, April 12 https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-36387-haiti-news-zapping.html

"Our working conditions are precarious in Haiti. There is no equipment, there are no computers. In some courts, there is not even paper," said Martin Ainé, President of the National Association of Haitian Clerks (ANAGH), who recalls that the salary of a clerk is only US$150 per month. adding "You can't live on such a salary, that's why there is so much corruption in the Haitian justice system."

S/ HaitiLibre