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LMAJ Commended for Contribution to Country

April 21, 2004

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Minister of Justice and Attorney General, A. J. Nicholson has commended the members of the Lay Magistrates Association of Jamaica (LMAJ) for the fine work done over the years.
He was speaking recently in Santa Cruz at a special church service to mark the Association’s 19 years of service.
“For Justices of the Peace the finest gift that you can offer to your brothers and sisters that make up the national family is helping Jamaica to put away strife and conflict.to come together to form the kind of democracy that will foster the right kind of development as demonstrated by the peaceful lifestyle of the people of St. Elizabeth,” he said.
Minister Nicholson noted that “too much conflict” in a society was oftentimes the sounding of the death knell of progress.
“It saps the energies of the justice system, it is the enemy of production and productivity and worst of all it removes the platform for peace, your primary mission must therefore be that of resolving disputes by helping to ‘nip them in the bud,” he indicated.The Attorney General pointed out that “no stone should be left unturned” in the pursuit of the peaceful resolution of conflict.
“See your role as that of the planting of the ‘seeds of calm’ and ‘seeds of peace’ which gives strength to all efforts for the creation of social justice in our land.in short, yours is a mission of justice and peace, the two things which serve as the solid twin towers of democracy,” he said.
Minister of Agriculture, Roger Clarke in bringing greetings emphasised that the role of the JP was that of a volunteer.
“You often hear it being said that ‘volunteerism is dead’ but your very presence here today and the basic tenets you represent can say to all – volunteerism is alive and well,” he declared.
Minister Clarke stated that the government was well aware of the importance of fostering a “just society”.”Continuously we hear the cry for justice and so we keep putting systems in place to redress any imbalance that is identified,” he remarked.
Mr. Clarke outlined the basic make-up of what could be construed as a proper justice system. “It must have three basic objectives namely that of providing access to the average citizen.the quality of such a system must give each person confidence in the administration of justice and in the end the system must provide for speedy dispensation of justice, therefore JP’s are involved in all three objectives and can influence the way how citizens think about the system,” he said.

Last Updated: April 21, 2004

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