Jamaican Justice System Reform Project - Her Honour Ms. Lorraine Smith

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Her Honour Ms. Lorraine Smith

Ms. Smith was awarded the prestigious British Council Chevening Scholarship (2003) to pursue a Master of Laws degree in International Human Rights Law at the University of Essex in the United Kingdom. Ms. Smith received her Master of Laws in 2005. In addition, Ms. Smith has a Bachelor’s Degree in Law from the University of the West Indies and a Certificate of Legal Education from the Norman Manley Law School.

Ms. Smith has significant experience both locally and internationally in issues relative to the improvement and development of the Justice System. Locally, she began career at the Public Bar in Jamaica (1995) as Clerk of Courts in the parish of Trelawny. She was promoted in 1997 to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions where she held several positions ranging from Crown Counsel to Acting Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions. Ms. Smith prosecuted cases and appeared in the courts at every level from the Resident Magistrate’s Court to the Court of Appeal. During her tenure at the DPP’s Office Ms. Smith was nominated by the DPP as his representative to the Legal Aid Council, the Witness Protection Programme, the National Environment and Planning Agency, the Court User Corporate Strategy Group and for Human Rights matters. Her administrative responsibilities included supervising the Home Circuit Administrative Unit, the Unit responsible for preparation of cases and warning witnesses for the Home Circuit Court. Internationally her experience includes: representing the International Bar Association (IBA) in London as an International Independent Trial Observer at the trial of alleged mercenaries accused of plotting together with Mark Thatcher and Simon Mann to overthrow the government of Equatorial Guinea; researching and preparing for conferences organised by the IBA Human Rights Centre designed to assist countries in complying with international human rights norms; and, acting as chairperson and resource member of a panel of experts at an IBA conference for judges and prosecutors in Ankara, Turkey organised in conjunction with the Ministry of Justice in Turkey.

In 2005 Ms. Smith was promoted to the position of Resident Magistrate for the Corporate Area (Acting) and appointed to the post in 2006. In addition to her regular functions as Resident Magistrate in a criminal court, Ms. Smith also presides over the specially constituted Drug Treatment (Rehabilitation of Offenders) Court. Her interest in training and development led her to revive and reorganise the ‘Clerk Empowerment Seminars’ designed to promote continuing legal education for clerks of the magistrate’s courts. Ms. Smith is an associate tutor for Criminal Practice and Procedure at the Norman Manley Law School and an executive member of the Association of Resident Magistrates in Jamaica.