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Minister of State in the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM), Hon. Shahine Robinson, has lauded Prime Minister the Hon. Bruce Golding for initiating the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) to bolster social, infrastructure and economic development within constituencies. Making her presentation in the Sectoral Debate at Gordon House Tuesday (July 28), Mrs. Robinson, who has portfolio responsibility for the Fund,...

Jamaica moved closer to meeting its international obligations in protecting the rights of its children, when the Senate passed the Child Pornography (Prevention) Bill Friday (July 24), making commercial sexual exploitation of children a criminal offence. The Bill will apply to the production, possession, importation, exportation and distribution of child pornography will attract penalties of up to 20 years imprisonment...

Attorney- at- law and Queen's Counsel (Q.C.), Justice Hilary Ann Phillips, was sworn in as a judge of the Court of Appeal, in a ceremony at King's House, Monday (July 20). In his remarks before presenting the instrument of appointment to Justice Phillips, the Governor-General, His Excellency the Most Hon. Sir Patrick Allen noted that the quality of justice in...

The Ministry of Justice is to construct a temporary facility to replace the Morant Bay Courthouse in St. Thomas, which was destroyed by fire on February 19, 2007. Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Senator Dorothy Lightbourne says discussions are advanced with the St. Thomas Parish Council to purchase additional land to increase the size of the property identified for...

The Ministry of Justice has begun discussions with the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce to explore the possibility of the private sector building courthouses for acquisition by the Government on a lease and sale basis. Speaking Wednesday evening (June 24, 2009) during the opening of the Port Antonio Resident Magistrate's Court in Boundbrook, Portland, Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Senator...

Minister of Justice, Senator Dorothy Lightbourne, has said that the Ministry has established a number of strategic priorities for the financial year, as it works to improve efficiency at all levels of the court system, and enhance access to justice for Jamaicans. These priority targets, which she said, were highlighted in the justice reform agenda, and for which the Ministry...

Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture, Hon. Olivia Grange, has said that the Government is working to make the country's justice system more efficient and fairer to women and girls. "The Bureau of Women's Affairs has made a submission to the Jamaican Justice System Reform Task Force on a number of ways to provide women and girls equal protection under...

Chief Justice of Jamaica, the Hon. Mrs. Justice Zaila McCalla, has recommended that more medical practitioners be trained to give evidence in court cases. Speaking at the opening of the Medical Association of Jamaica's (MAJ) Symposium 2009 yesterday (June 4), at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel in Kingston, Mrs. Justice McCalla said the ignorance of some doctors regarding court procedures sometimes...

Tower Hill in St. Andrew has been added to the list of communities to benefit from a pilot project for the development of Community Justice Tribunals, as the Government moves forward with the implementation of the restorative justice policy. Speaking at the opening of the Third International Conference on Restorative and Community Justice held today (May 27) at the Knutsford...

Prime Minister the Hon. Bruce Golding, in remarking on the stress on Jamaica's justice system, noted that for last year alone, there were some 345,000 cases listed for the Resident Magistrates Courts. This does not include the numbers listed in the Supreme Court or the Court of Appeal. Of the total, some 90 percent involve criminal offences. Mr. Golding was...

Debate on the Sexual Offences Act 2009 began in the Senate Friday (May 22), with Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Senator the Hon. Dorothy Lightbourne, making the opening contribution. The Bill, passed in the House of Representatives on March 31, seeks to amalgamate the various laws relating to incest and other sexual offences, and includes provision for a Sex...

Three communities are to benefit from a pilot project for the development of community justice tribunals as the Ministry of Justice presses forward with efforts towards the practice of restorative justice in Jamaica. "As a supporting mechanism, we are moving forward with the community justice tribunals and this is one of the key pledges that the government has advanced," said...