Correctional hearings have resumed at the Port-au-Prince Court of First Instance since Monday, March 9, following several months of strikes by prosecutors (parquetiers). The Chief Judge (Doyen) of the Port-au-Prince Court of First Instance, Bernard Saint-Vil, had to give up his own office to allow daily hearings to take place. Two cases are heard each day, reported Judge Saint-Vil, who intends to use this resumption to make up for lost time.
Regarding criminal hearings without jury assistance, the Chief Judge expressed confidence: they could begin as early as next week. A courtroom is currently being prepared for this purpose in the area, he confirmed.
Judge Saint-Vil will have much work to do to organize the court and process as many cases as possible before the judicial recess, scheduled for the last Friday of July. Furthermore, the Chief Judge’s office was crowded with lawyers this Friday, March 20, who came to attend the public correctional hearing of Claude Saint-Jean, arrested for fraud in December 2025 in Kenscoff. The defendant allegedly swindled a large sum of money from local residents in the name of the Kenscoff brigade chief, claiming the funds were to finance cleaning operations in the area.
Exposed by the residents and the brigade chief himself—who did not want the suspect to become a victim of the “Bwa Kale” vigilante movement—the individual was handed over to the police for legal proceedings.
