Overview:
Despite its inauguration, the Ouanaminthe Court of First Instance remains inoperative due to a power struggle between the executive and judicial branches, exposing chronic failures in Haiti’s separation of powers.
OUANAMINTHE, Haiti — Residents of Ouanaminthe, the largest city in Haiti’s Northeast by both population and economic activity, gathered in late December to celebrate the reopening of a long-awaited Court of First Instance—an institution absent from the city for more than a century, but it remains largely nonfunctional weeks later.
The inauguration ceremony on Dec. 22, 2025, featured speeches, ribbon-cutting and official promises of better access to justice. But now, the excitement gives way to frustration. The courthouse remains largely empty—no sworn judges, no functioning administration and no hearings scheduled.
At the center of the paralysis is a power struggle between the Ministry of Justice and the Superior Council of the Judiciary (CSPJ), once again exposing how fragile Haiti’s separation of powers remains in practice, particularly when the executive branch intervenes in judicial affairs.
“They opened a building, not an institution,” said Jackenson Accilien, a law student and political scientist. “Technically, there is no court; the CSPJ, as a constitutional authority, was not present during the opening.”
Under Article 184.2 of Haiti’s Constitution, the CSPJ is the sole body authorized to manage judicial careers, including the appointment and discipline of judges. Yet in Ouanaminthe, no dean, investigating judges or sitting magistrates have been lawfully installed because the executive branch decides to exert that power on its own. Several appointment letters circulating locally lack reference numbers, publication dates or traceable registration within the public administration.
Local legal professionals say these documents are invalid.
“When an administrative document has neither a reference number nor traceability, it endangers both the institution and the person using it,” said lawyer Régulus Magnekell. “Anyone acting under such letters bears personal legal responsibility.”
Despite this, the Ministry of Justice has moved forward as if the court were operational, deepening concerns that the executive continues to bypass constitutional safeguards designed to protect judicial independence.
Executive pressure and forced relocation
Tensions escalated further when two Justices of the Peace—Renaud Pierre and Beaumanois Marcellus—were effectively removed from their offices to make room for the Court of First Instance. Their court was relocated to the Ouanaminthe vice-delegation so the new court could occupy the former peace court building.
“Judges being ousted by the executive is not a simple administrative incident—it’s a powerful signal,” said sociologist Lesly Périsse. “It reflects how normalized executive overreach has become.”
Marcellus confirmed that no judges appointed by the CSPJ have been sworn in and that no senior judge has been designated to administer the court.
“The problem is straightforward,” he said. “There are no investigating judges appointed by the CSPJ and no senior judge to manage the court.”
The court’s inauguration—whose legal validity remains contested—was held by Patrick Pélissier, minister of Justice and Public Security, Smith Augustin and Emmanuel Vertilaire, two members of the Transitional Presidential Council (CPT), along with local authorities and police officials. Representatives of the CSPJ—whose presence is required for a lawful installation—were notably absent.
While official statements describe the events as a step toward judicial decentralization, the ceremony lacks all the elements required to make the court functional: sworn judges, clerks, a budget and legal installation procedures.
For critics, the episode reflects a broader pattern of governance in which symbolic gestures replace institutional reform.
“Justice is not built with inaugurations,” Périsse said. “It is built with procedures and respect for the principles of separation of powers.”
Why a Court of First Instance matters
In Haiti’s judicial system, the Justice of the Peace and the Court of First Instance serve distinct but complementary roles within the judicial hierarchy.
“Technically, there is no court; the CSPJ [Superior Council of the Judiciary], as a constitutional authority, was not present during the opening.”
Jackenson Accilien, law student and political scientist
The Justice of the Peace operates at the local level and handles minor matters, including small civil claims, land and landlord-tenant disputes and petty offenses punishable by up to six months in jail. It represents the first and lowest tier of the judicial system, designed to resolve less complex disputes quickly and locally.
The Court of First Instance, by contrast, is a higher trial court with broader original jurisdiction. It hears more serious civil, commercial and criminal cases, including felonies. These courts serve as the primary venue for adjudicating the most significant legal disputes before any appeal is considered.
In practice, Courts of First Instance function much like district or trial courts in other legal systems, such as the United States, forming the backbone of Haiti’s judiciary and serving as the primary forum for resolving serious legal disputes before they move up the judicial ladder.
Residents of Ouanaminthe viewed the inauguration of the Court of First Instance—formalized by a September 2024 decree —as a step toward decentralized justice.
Some officials have blamed the CSPJ for blocking the court’s launch. Magnekell rejects that narrative, arguing that without a budget, financial mechanisms or administrative infrastructure, judicial appointments are legally ineffective.
“Without budgetary planning, the institution does not truly exist,” he said.
The deadlock underscores a recurring problem in Haiti’s justice system: overlapping authority, unclear mandates and a lack of coordination between constitutionally independent institutions.
For residents of Ouanaminthe—a strategic border town where legal disputes involving trade, migration and security are common—the court’s paralysis has tangible consequences. Cases remain stalled, access to justice is delayed and public confidence continues to erode.
The Ouanaminthe Court of First Instance has become a symbol of two Haitis: one of ceremonies, speeches and political messaging; and another of ignored procedures, weakened institutions, where constitutional norms are routinely set aside.
As long as judges are not properly appointed, documents remain untraceable and the executive continues to encroach on judicial authority, the court will remain inaugurated in name only.
“To inaugurate a court without sworn judges,” Magnekell said, “is to inaugurate an illusion.”
Ouanaminthe has been without a Court of First Instance since 1924, during the U.S. occupation, when judicial reforms placed the region under the jurisdiction of Cap-Haïtien.
A 1931 law later reinstated the court in Fort-Liberté, leaving Ouanaminthe without its own major court for more than a century.
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