Jamaicans Urged to Make Use of Social Justice Programmes

Minister of Justice, Hon. Delroy Chuck, is imploring the public to utilise the Ministry’s restorative justice and mediation services, as they have proven successful in improving relationships between persons in conflicts.

He informed that 90 per cent of restorative justice cases are referred by the courts, and the service has an 80 per cent success rate.

“Now, with a success rate like that, we need to make sure that Jamaicans utilise these services but we can’t force people to seek help; they must come and get help,” Minister Chuck said.

He was speaking on Thursday (February 20) at the Ministry’s inaugural World Day of Social Justice Conference, held at the Jamaica Conference Centre in downtown Kingston.

The event, under the theme ‘Justice Without Barriers: Empowering Individuals and Communities for a more Inclusive Society’, was in observance of the United Nation’s World Day of Social Justice, which is recognised annually on February 20.

Minister Chuck contended that part of the reason people are not utilising the restorative justice and mediation service is because they are not aware of them, an issue the Ministry is working to rectify.

“We… have embarked on almost a monthly programme, sometimes twice per month, to go into the parishes, into the communities, to engage the schools, the churches, civil society, to know more about the social justice programme that we are providing and urge community members and institutions to utilise these services, which are not only successful but beneficial,” he said.

To better serve residents, Mr. Chuck shared that the Ministry has three buses available upon request, each equipped with a lawyer offering free legal advice.

This initiative aims to ensure that individuals involved in disputes receive proper guidance, preventing them from feeling the need to take matters into their own hands.

“What I really emphasise is that across Jamaica, the courts should be the last resort to resolve disputes. We have far too many disputes in the homes, in the neighbourhoods that remain unresolved, and parties just ’cut their eyes’ at one another every day. The services are available for you to call a restorative justice facilitator or go to victim services and not only get information but get advice as to how you can heal the disharmony,” the Minister said.

He informed that currently, there are 22 restorative justice centres across Jamaica, and more than 300 restorative justice facilitators. This is in addition to the child diversion mentors who assist children who get into conflicts with the law or are fighting in schools.

Minister Chuck reiterated that using the social justice services could lead to a peaceful society with people living in harmony.

“If people get into an argument and one person injured the other, verbally or physically, and instead of going to a gunman or to family and friends to beat up the other, if they could just go to a restorative justice centre and see how the conflict, the arguments could be resolved, we would have a more peaceful and harmonious society,” he said.

In delivering the keynote address on the conference theme, Social Anthropologist and Senior Lecturer at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona, Dr. Herbert Gayle, highlighted the need for inclusivity when tackling the issues of crime and violence in a country.