Covid danger in St Lucia’s tiny courts puts stop to murder trials

Ninety wait for justice as infection controls prevent juries from sitting for two years

St Lucia has not been able to hold a homicide trial for two years, because courtrooms are too small to safely seat a jury under Covid rules, the Caribbean nation's director of public prosecutions has said.

The build-up of untried cases is one of the most extreme examples of the damaging impact of the pandemic on access to justice globally. Rule of law has deteriorated around the world, the World Justice Project found. Three-quarters of the countries evaluated for its Rule of Law Index experienced a decline in 2021.