In his 2010 State of the Judiciary Report, Demapan noted the continuing decline of the judiciary’s annual budget in the past 12 years.
“I am troubled by our current tribulations,” he said.
He reported that the CNMI judiciary witnessed a 44 percent decline in funding over the past decade.
In 1999, its budget was $5.9 million.
This year, Demapan said the amount is $3.3 million.
He noted that the judiciary, even though a constitutional branch of the CNMI government, received less than 3 percent of the 2011 appropriations.
From 120 full-time personnel, the judiciary now has 74 full-time positions — a 35 percent reduction, Demapan said.
“These reductions are not without ancillary costs,” he added.
The chief justice said reduction in staff and a shrinking budget mean that processing child support payments, visitation orders, and complicated civil settlement agreements will take more time.
“Worse still,” Demapan said, “a shortage of judicial resources affect criminal cases.”
“We cannot allow these things to happen in our commonwealth,” he said, but without mentioning where the cash-strapped government can get the funding the judiciary needs.
Demapan said there have been postponements in criminal hearings, warrant updates, probation hearings and entering of no-contact orders.
He said there may also be a delay in the transmission of vital information such as criminal case history and abuse protection orders to the Department of Public Safety.
“We understand that the government is facing tremendous financial difficulty, and we know that like the legislative branch and the executive branch, we must conserve resources. Even so, the judiciary has a sacred duty to protect the community. Despite our uncertain financial situation, we must uphold the commonwealth and U.S. Constitutions. I ask all citizens of the commonwealth to demand that our court system be provided enough funding to carry out our constitutional mandate to provide justice to everyone, and to accept nothing less.”
During the partial government shutdown last year — the first time in CNMI history — much of the judiciary remained functional, Demapan said.
“I am proud to say that even without allocated funding from the legislative branch, we persevered in our mission,” he added.
“The judiciary exists to protect the commonwealth and its citizens, and I am profoundly grateful that the judiciary rose to the challenge,” Demapan said.
The courts, he added, are committed to the rule of law.
His report also outlined the judiciary’s “accomplishments” in the area of courts accessibility, technology, infrastructure, education, outreach and administration.
“As the judiciary strives toward self-improvement, we again ask for your patience and support,” Demapan said. “We understand the gravity of our financial dilemma, but I do not believe that we can put a price tag on justice or its significance to our commonwealth. As Alexander Hamilton understood, justice is not cheap, but it is absolutely essential. For this reason, we ask for your earnest consideration when we seek necessary funding. I promise that we will ask only for what we need; enough to make sure that each person who comes before us receives the justice promised by the Constitution and our representative democratic system of government.”
