by Curlan Campbell
- Courts have been moving all around since Hurricane Ivan destroyed York House
- Project aims to have state-of-the-art judicial complex at Mt Wheldale
- Implementation expected to begin in 2026, with 18 to 24 months to complete
Christie-Anne Morris-Alleyne, Court Executive Administrator at the Trinidad and Tobago Judiciary, has been contracted as lead consultant to advance Grenada’s long-awaited Hall of Justice and Institutional Strengthening Project, an ambitious initiative to transform the country’s judicial infrastructure and legal systems.
“We are at the stage where we have sent out a request for proposals for design,” Morris-Alleyne said. “We had some concept designs… but that did not include facilities for the DPP or the Attorney General’s office, a family court, a sexual offences court. So… we had to do a recalibration.”
The project, now in an active planning and consultation phase, aims to establish a state-of-the-art judicial complex at Mt Wheldale, near the Parliament building. According to Morris-Alleyne, once the design proposals are received and evaluated, “by the end of this year, we should have in hand our detailed designs,” with implementation expected to begin in 2026. “The project will take 18 to 24 months to complete,” she added. “This is not an easy one. It’s not going to be easy, but I’m determined to make it happen.”
While the focus includes the construction of a modern facility, Morris-Alleyne stressed the dual purpose of the project, which is institutional reform. “You also can’t move into new premises in 2025 with old systems,” she said. “The systems that you’re going to put in place really tend to dictate the design of the building.”
“It’s a question of an entire ecosystem, and further through just an ecosystem, we have to remember that the whole thing is about serving the public,” she added. “Very important to any judicial system is actually our customers, and customers are the people.”
The consultant and her team have spent the past week in Grenada conducting intensive consultations. “We have met with so many groups… we’ve met with the bar, we have met with magistrates, we have met with judges. But aside from that, we’ve met with a lot of social workers, we’ve met with police, we’ve met with Child Protection, we have met with legal aid, we’ve met with ombudsman… churches… women’s groups.”
The findings from these meetings are now being analysed. “One of the things that has come home very strongly to us is that in the criminal arena, first of all, there’s a very small criminal bar… there’s been a growing number of actual offences cases. And so, therefore, that has to be taken strongly into account.”
Senator the Honourable Claudette Joseph, who serves as Grenada’s Attorney General and Minister for Legal Affairs, has been championing the project from its inception. “This is a project that the Government of Grenada has undertaken to erect a new modern, green, state-of-the-art Hall of Justice for Grenada,” Joseph said. “It will house our civil courts, our criminal courts, facilities for the Court of Appeal, a family court, a sexual offences court, and the Magistrate’s Court of the Southern District that will be the magistrate’s court sitting in St George’s.”
“It will also house the registry, Supreme Court registry, and all attendant offices,” she added. “There will also be facilities for the offices of the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Ministry of Legal Affairs, and the Attorney General’s office.” Joseph emphasised the importance of matching new infrastructure with updated processes and mindsets. “We do not want to go into new facilities with old attitudes, old processes, old procedures,” she said. “We are also reviewing all our processes, ensuring that technology is built in and interwoven into our new systems — simple things like payment systems… filing, all of that into the system.”
She also pointed to the project’s historical relevance. “Since Hurricane Ivan, we have not had a fixed place for our courts. The courts have been moving all around since Hurricane Ivan destroyed York House, and so we want to fix that once and for all.”
A lifelong member of the legal fraternity, Joseph reflected on how personal the project is to her. “I got admitted to the bar in 1996… I know the challenges, and I know how desperately Grenada needs a proper Hall of Justice that is functioning well, that has integrated the right and modern facilities.”
While she has been called the “champion” of the initiative, Joseph acknowledged the broader team effort behind it. “We do have a project steering committee that was approved by the cabinet, and that steering committee comprise representatives of all stakeholders,” she explained. “We have a representative from the Ministry of Finance… and we have a representative from the MIT [Ministry of Implementation and Transformation].”
