The Justice Reform Implementation Unit (JRIU), along with the Office of the Chief Justice, will host a workshop for Case Progression Officers in the court system, on April 1 at the Jewel Runaway Bay Beach Resort in St. Ann. Director of the JRIU, Althea McBean, told JIS News that the training will not only help the officers, but will also...

Residents of the Parade Gardens community in Central Kingston are the latest to benefit from the services of the Legal Aid Council’s Mobile Justice Unit. The unit was in the community on Monday (March 20) from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. to provide free legal advice to residents. Attorney-at-law, Sue-Ann Lowe, who is a legal consultant for the unit, told...

Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Paula Llewellyn, is urging women to desist from having children that they cannot afford to provide for financially. “If you know you cannot afford it, you cannot sit down in the 21st century and have five, six and seven children and you do not work,” she said. She noted that these women often get into...

Jamaica now has a Criminal Bench Book, which will better aid trial judges in directing juries in criminal cases. This Bench Book, which was officially launched at The Spanish Court Hotel in New Kingston on Friday (March 17), provides judicial officers with a single publication to which they can turn for guidance in crafting summations to juries. It will save...

Construction and rehabilitation of courts, as well as an increase in personnel, are among measures being undertaken by the Ministry of Justice this fiscal year, in order to improve access to justice by Jamaicans. Portfolio Minister, Hon. Delroy Chuck, informed that two additional courthouses will be built in Montego Bay to accommodate civil cases as well as possibly provide for...

There has been a change in location for the Legal Aid Council Mobile Justice Unit’s visit to the Fletcher's Land community in Kingston on March 16. The unit will now be at the intersection of Love Lane and Garrick Lane (from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.) and the intersection of King Street and Garrick Lane (from 1:15 p.m. to 3:00...

The Ministry of Justice has embarked on a national drive to promote peaceful solutions to disputes in schools and the wider community. Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Carol Palmer, says that the Ministry is increasing the use of non-court initiatives, including mediation and restorative justice practices. She notes that at the school level, principals, deans of discipline, guidance counsellors and...