Minister of Justice, Hon. Delroy Chuck, says the Drug Treatment Courts across the island are making an impact in transforming the lives of drug-dependent offenders. He cited the 2017 report from the drug court in Manchester, which pointed to “improvement in the participants’ behaviour as the court authorities monitor their treatment”. He said the report further highlighted increased support and...

Minister of Justice, Hon. Delroy Chuck, says tourism has contributed to an increase in the sale of marriage licences. Speaking at the Ministry’s quarterly press briefing on October 11, the Minister noted that a total of 4,943 marriage licences were approved by the Ministry of Justice’s Criminal, Civil and Family Law Unit, for the first six months of the fiscal...

The Ministry of Justice has, to date, signed contracts valued at more than $1B for rehabilitation and refurbishing works to Justice Institutions across the island for the fiscal year 2018/2019. This was announced by Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Justice, Mrs. Carol Palmer, at the Ministry’s Second Quarterly Press Briefing held at the Ministry’s headquarters on October 11. A...

Ten (10) of the twenty-two (22) HOPE Interns assigned to the Ministry of Justice under the Government of Jamaica’s Housing, Opportunity, Production and Employment (HOPE) Programme will no longer be considered “unattached youth”, as they have been offered permanent positions of employment by the Ministry of Justice. Speaking at a Press Briefing held at the Ministry’s headquarters on October 11,...

With violence-related cases clogging the courts, the Minister of Justice, Hon. Delroy Chuck, wants more persons to make use of dispute resolution avenues in order to settle disagreements. He says there is a propensity to resolve conflicts with violence, which is adding to the burden of the courts. “People are using violence, threats and brutish stupidity to settle arguments. And...

Minister of Justice, Hon. Delroy Chuck; and Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Carol Palmer, today (October 11), signed a $50.7-million contract for the re-construction of the Kingston and St. Andrew Family Court Attendance Centre. The Centre, which was destroyed by fire on December 30, 2015, will be located at the corner of East and Beeston Streets in downtown Kingston. The...

Minister of Justice, Hon. Delroy Chuck, says the Courts have been getting more guilty pleas, which has freed up resources. “The statistics have shown that the largest proportion of matters completed in the first six months was by way of guilty pleas, that is, 62.2 per cent of matters being completed by way of guilty pleas in the first quarter...