Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 30, 2007

Permanent Secretary Calls for Private Sector Support for Justice Reform

JAMAICA—Mrs. Carol Palmer, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Justice has made a call for “tangible” support from the private sector for the reform of the justice system. She made the call while addressing a public consultation on the reform at the Portmore HEART Academy last evening (March 29, 2007).

“An efficient and effective justice system is important for investor confidence,” Mrs. Palmer said. She pointed out that the reform was the most important initiative that was being undertaken by Jamaica noting that it placed justice as the “generic platform on which all other sectors of the society must depend and build”.

The Permanent Secretary’s call for support came against the background of what she calls “the new face of justice” which will May Pen Resident Magistrate’s (RM) Court and the rehabilitation/construction programme which will see some eight courthouses benefiting this year including the new courthouse which is being built in Port Antonio under a joint partnership arrangement with the National Commercial Bank (NCB).

Mrs. Palmer said that the new courthouse symbolized the new face of justice that will bring “the users of the courts especially those who have been neglected - women, children and the disabled - to the centre of what we do.”

She said that a specialist in procedural reform from the Canadian Bar Association was working to improve case management at the May Pen RM Court, improve the filing system by introducing letter size documentation and flat filing and a digital recording system for depositions.

On the matter of the design of the new courthouse in Port Antonio, Mrs. Palmer told the gathering that the facilities included adequate seating and waiting areas for both witnesses and the general public, a properly secure waiting room for vulnerable witnesses and secure access and separate corridors for Judges, Magistrates, Prosecutors, Vulnerable Witnesses and the Jury. Other facilities will include private rooms for lawyers to meet with clients and for counseling and mediation. In addition, there will be a general library and fire-proof facilities at the new $240m courthouse.

Fourteen of the twenty-two consultations have already been held across the island and some 650 persons have participated in the public consultations, focus groups and interviews that have been conducted since the review phase of the reform began in October 2006. A series of consultations will culminate with a national consultation which is scheduled for the Jamaica Conference Centre on May 10-11, 2007.

The reform is designed to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the justice system and to meet the current and future needs of the Jamaican people. This phase of the reform will inquire into the state of the justice system and develop strategies and mechanisms to facilitate its modernization. This phase of the project comes to an end in June 2007.

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Contact: Michael Cohen, Tel: 9-08-1982