Jamaica Legal Information Portal Launched

The Ministry of Legal and Constitutional Affairs has launched the Jamaica Legal Information Portal (JLIP), a new online platform aimed at improving public access to the nation’s laws.

Speaking during the launch on Wednesday (July 30) at the AC Hotel by Marriott Kingston, Portfolio Minister, Hon. Marlene Malahoo Forte, noted that digitisation of legislative instruments and documents, starting from the present and going back to previous centuries, is a significant aspect of the Government’s broader digital transformation programme.

Consequently, she said long-standing challenges experienced by legal practitioners, judges and public officials will be significantly minimised or eliminated through the platform’s implementation.

“When the JLIP is fully operationalised, it will not only significantly reduce time and effort used to locate legal documents but it will also serve as a platform for public engagement on law reform issues, helping to shape legal proposals through citizen input,” the Minister stated.

Mrs. Malahoo Forte advised that the portal is already populated with several decades of Jamaican laws, including gazette publications – specifically proclamations, rules, and regulations – annual Acts of Parliament, and the most recent edition of the revised laws of Jamaica.

She noted that the objective of phase two is to populate the portal with all the laws dating back to Jamaica’s independence.

“Subsequent phases will provide access to the revised laws of Jamaica and all additions from the 19th century to the present; the annual Acts of Jamaica from the 17th century to the present; the Jamaica Gazette publications, all of them before independent Jamaica in 1962; law reforms, related judgments and judgments of the Supreme Court related to or linked to legislation; resources and information concerning legislative development and the Hansard, which is the official record of Parliament,” the Minister outlined.

The portal features an artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot named ‘Garvey’, in honour of Jamaica’s first National Hero, the Right Excellent Marcus Mosiah Garvey.

Mrs. Malahoo Forte explained that the chatbot was so named to champion Mr. Garvey’s philosophy of black nationhood.

The JLIP, which can be accessed at jlip.gov.jm, was developed by European firm, Softengi, at a cost of US$197,000.
Funding was provided by the World Bank under its Foundations for Competitiveness and Growth Project (FCGP).