Caribbean Judiciary Participate in JEMS Conference

Some 44 representatives from the judiciary across the Caribbean are participating in the third annual Judicial Enforcement Management Systems (JEMS) now underway in Ocho Rios, St. Ann. The five-day conference, which commenced on Tuesday (August 15) at the Sunset Jamaica Grande Resort, is being held under the theme: ‘Caribbean Court Technology Users – establishing a foundation for the effective use of court technology in the region’.
Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Senator A.J. Nicholson, in his remarks at the opening, noted that the process of enhancing the system of administration of justice within CARICOM and all its varied segments of operation, including information gathering and sharing, had taken root in the uniform technological platform being adopted by the courts within the nation states.
He noted that this unified approach to the selection and use of one judicial information software pointed to several potential benefits. “Greater efficiency and speed of information gathering and dissemination may be realized through the use of one software system, such as JEMS.
“JEMS, I am reliably informed, provides such a standard, what with its capacity to facilitate and store a dazzling array of data input on any person, who has come before any court, which uses this system”, he pointed out.
According to the Attorney General, a pilot project to introduce the system was underway in Jamaica and the relevant staff had already been trained in its use. He noted further, that as part of the move to transform the justice system in Jamaica, the Justice Training Institute had re-defined itself to adopt a Caribbean focus.
“It has proven itself to be flexible and capable of providing specialized courses and therefore stands prepared to offer JEMS-related courses to our regional partners within the Caribbean.
“The Institute itself not only continues to cater for specialized courses geared towards the local financial sector such as the Tax Assessment and Administrative Department, but will this month, be providing intensive training for bailiffs in the courts of the British Virgin Islands,” he informed.
The Attorney General pointed out that the JEMS conference sought to continue the establishment of that firm foundation, which was required for the effective use of court technology in the region, and encouraged the participants to grasp all they could during the conference.
Countries and institutions represented at the JEMS conference are: Jamaica, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, British Virgin Islands, Dominica, Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago Judiciary, Trinidad and Tobago Industrial Court and the Caribbean Court of Justice.