DUBAI : The summer holidays, a time when most people go on vacation to make the most of the two-month school break, have turned into a contentious issue among lawyers, judges and those facing trial.
With over 70 per cent of the judges in Dubai taking their annual holidays during this time of the year, the burden of cases falls on the remaining judges who are filling in for their vacationing colleagues.
Subsequently, these cases take more than the usual time to conclude because these judges are not willing to give verdicts in cases they have not been hearing from the beginning.
Shrinking chamber
Every year, in August and September, the number of court chambers shrinks from 22 to just five or six daily.
About 180 judges are granted 30 days annual leave, but most prefer to take their leave during the summer because those with children want to make the most of the school summer holidays.
A judge who spoke on the condition of anonymity said that due to this trend, he is working like a "lone ranger" while almost all of his colleagues are away on leave.
"I have to attend to more than 274 cases today," he said on one absolutely crazy day in the first week of August, noting that one verdict - typically 10 pages long - takes at least 10 days to write.
"The judge will have to read the case page by page before delivering the verdict," he said.
Given the fact that almost all of the judges in his department are on leave, he has to cover for their cases. "Most of these cases (pointing to a pile next to him) are not mine," he said.
Another judge declined to comment, stating that this was an administrative issue.
There are nine judges in the Criminal Court, divided into three panels of three members each. Each panel handles an equitable number of cases and the judges have apparently worked out a solution to keep the court workflow going.
Each panel takes leave in a different month in summer - three judges go in June, three in July and the last three take their leave in August.
A judge countered the claim that cases are suffering due to judges going on leave en masse.
"The cases are not getting piled up during the summer holidays," said the judge who did not want his name to be disclosed.
He said fewer cases are referred by the Public Prosecution to the courts during summer.
Lawyers are also divided into two camps on the issue. While some said that since judges deliver life-changing decisions, they need to take breaks as per their convenience, others said the number of judges in one department taking leave should not exceed the number judges staying back.
One lawyer even suggested that judges, lawyers and suspects must "cooperate" by postponing cases till after the holidays.
