By the Caribbean Journal staff

Trinidad’s State of Emergency, which was just extended for another three months, is presenting a new set of challenges as courts struggle to deal with a vastly-increased case load.

One possibility to deal with the situation is the creation of a firearms court, something that was introduced to much controversy in Jamaica in 1974. That court still tries criminal cases in Jamaica that involve firearms.

The government has already arrested 1,477 people since the State of Emergency began Aug. 21.

Attorney General Anand Ramlogan said he and Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar would meet with Chief Justice Ivor Archie to discuss potential administrative measures to deal with these issues.

The country is also considering the creation of a night court to deal with the new backlog.

Despite the number of arrests, prisons in the country are not more overcrowded than they had been prior to the State of Emergency, Prisons Commissioner John Rougier said today. Before the state of emergency, the prison population was 3,800, and it is now 4,321, he said.