P-to-P, February 16, 2024 [AlterPresse] — The School of Magistracy (Ema) and the National Network of Haitian Magistrates (Renamah) advocate for the use of the mother tongue, Creole, in the judicial system in Haiti, during a webinar organized on Friday February 16, 2024 and attended by the online agency AlterPresse.
Creole must be the language of justice, wish the magistrates and clerks who spoke in this webinar.
They discuss the difficulties encountered in the Haitian judicial system, particularly in the peace courts, civil courts and investigating offices, with the use of the French language to process justice files.
“One of my major concerns regarding the Haitian judicial system is the lack of qualifications,” declares one of the substitutes of the government commissioner at the civil court of Port-au-Prince, Mr. Rudolphe. Jean Leonard Cantave.
At the level of justice, there are almost no people with appropriate qualifications to deal with an offense in Creole, regrets Cantave.
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights, stipulates article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948, recalls the investigating judge at the civil court of Port-au-Prince, Me. Loubens Élysée.
According to him, in a court of law, the accused have the right to fully understand what the judge pronounces.
“A judge must pronounce his decisions in the language (mother tongue) spoken by the accused. So in Haiti, the Creole language is the language spoken by all Haitians.”
Every accused has the right to understand what is happening in the trial, to understand the judge’s decision, underlines Me. Loubens Élysée.
The dean of the Faculty of Applied Linguistics (Fla), Renauld Govain, wants the Ministry of Justice and Public Security (Mjsp) to unquestionably integrate the Creole language into the judicial system in Haiti.
“The Creole language is a language of harmony for all Haitians. It is an ethnocultural language. It is the language understood by everyone.”
It will be absolutely good for Haitian justice to express itself in Creole, since it is the language of the majority, estimates the chief clerk of the civil court of Petit-Goâve, Me. Martin Ainé, also president of the National Association Haitian clerks (Anagh).
“My experience in trial offices obliges me to ask the judicial authorities to judge and issue orders in Creole. Many times, in the investigating chambers, I am obliged to translate the judge’s words, each time he speaks, because the accused did not understand anything,” relates Me. Martin Ainé.
Creole must be spoken without fear in all institutions, particularly those of justice.
The Judicial School must also play its role by providing a remedial course for the majority of clerks and judges, who do not know how to write in Creole, recommends clerk John Vivald Louis.
In court trials, “communication is fundamental”, because it facilitates everyone’s understanding, from the progress until the end of the trial, explains John Vivald Louis.
The integration of the Creole language into the judicial system in Haiti was the theme of the webinar on Friday February 16, 2024, which brought together prosecutors, justices of the peace, lawyers, clerks and university professors.
This talk is part of a series of activities to mark International Mother Language Day, Wednesday February 21, 2024. [je emb rc apr 19/02/2024 10:10]
