Residents of St. Mary are invited to come out in their numbers to access justice services at the Legal Aid Council’s Justice Fair on Friday, September 15. The event is scheduled to take place at the Annotto Bay Car Park on Main Street beginning at 10:00 a.m. Persons will be able to access services from Child Diversion, Expungement, Restorative Justice,...

The Victim Services Branch (VSB) is encouraging parents to be vigilant with their children, to minimise trauma resulting from crime and violence. Director of the VSB in the Social Justice Division of the Justice Ministry, Dionne Dawn Binns, told JIS News that more than 50 per cent of the Branch’s clientele are children. “Our most common cases include those related...

The Victim Services Branch (VSB) of the Justice Ministry’s Social Justice Division is encouraging men who have been victims of crime to access its free counselling services. With more than 70 per cent of its clientele in the last fiscal year being female, VSB Director, Dionne Dawn Binns, is appealing to men to reach out for support. “We know that...

A child-friendly space has been established at the Victim Services Branch (VSB) office in Mandeville, Manchester under the United States (U.S.)- Jamaica Child Protection Compact Partnership. A child-friendly space is an environment designed to help children who are victims of crime to feel safe, calm, and comfortable while interacting with professionals, including law enforcement officers, social workers, healthcare professionals and...

The New Social Justice Division within the Justice Ministry has been working to deliver healing and create a culture of peace by increasing access to Alternative Justice Services (AJS). The Division is a one-stop shop, housing three critical branches of the Ministry, namely Restorative Justice (RJ), Child Diversion and Victim Services, which members of the public can access free of...

Cabinet has approved an annual subvention to Justice of the Peace (JP) Associations. This is intended to better coordinate the organisations’ assistance to the Ministry of Justice in delivering client services across Jamaica. Portfolio Minister, Hon. Delroy Chuck, made the disclosure during Thursday’s (August 10) commissioning ceremony for 93 new JPs for the parish of St. Catherine, at the New...

The House of Representatives, on Tuesday (July 25), approved amendments to the Child Care and Protection (Amendment) Act, to bring an end to locking up children who have not committed a criminal offence but who have been deemed uncontrollable. Amendment of the Act includes the repeal of Section 24 (2), which will enable Jamaica to become compliant with obligations under...

The amendment to the Child Care and Protection Act (CCPA) will create a “kinder and gentler environment” for Jamaican children, says Minister of Education and Youth, Hon. Fayval Williams. Among other things, she noted that children with behavioural challenges will be assessed by competent behavioural specialists. “A care plan will be agreed [on], having regard to the results of a...

Jamaicans are being urged to make a will to prevent family members from fighting over ‘dead leff,’ and to ease the burden on the Administrator General's Department (AGD).  Minister of Justice, Hon. Delroy Chuck, in making the appeal, said that the AGD, which is the entity responsible for handling the estates of persons, who die without making a will, is...