Debate on the Arbitration Bill, which seeks to provide an effective non-judicial mechanism for settling disputes between contracting parties, got under way in the House of Representatives on Tuesday (January 10). The Bill, which will repeal the Arbitration Act 1900, was piloted by Minister of Justice, Hon. Delroy Chuck. The legislation is based on the provisions of the Model Law...

Six judges have been sworn in to serve in the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court, with effect from January 9. The judges are Hon. Justice Carol Edwards to the Court of Appeal; Her Honour Sonia Bertram Linton, His Honour Dale Palmer, Her Honour Calys Wiltshire and Her Honour Lisa Palmer Hamilton as puisne judges in the Supreme Court. Her...

Justice Minister, Hon. Delroy Chuck, is moving to have justice centres established in each parish to provide training for justices of the peace (JPs) in the areas of restorative justice, mediation and child diversion. The objective is to better enable the JPs to peacefully resolve conflicts outside of the court system and promote harmony in communities. Mr. Chuck was speaking...

Contractor General, Dirk Harrison, says the effective management of conflict of interest or other perceptions is very crucial to the building of a good public image. He points out that conflict of interest, as it relates to public procurement processes, arises when a public official has a private-capacity interest, which could improperly influence the performance of his or her official...

The Ministry of Justice is moving to increase the use of mediation in disposing of cases before the Parish Courts This was disclosed by Director of the Justice Reform Implementation Unit, Althea McBean in a recent interview on the Jamaica Information Service television programme Issues and Answers. Ms. McBean said studies indicate that as much as 40 per cent of...

The Government is working on a statistical system to accurately assess the extent of case backlog in courts across the island. In providing an accurate status of court cases, this system will allow the Government, the court management and the Chief Justice to allocate resources accordingly. This is according to Director of the Justice Reform Implementation Unit in the Justice...

The residents of the De La Vega City community in Spanish Town are now reaping benefits from the continued intervention of the Citizen Security and Justice Programme (CSJP). Since 2011, CSJP has been working in the community through the De La Vega City Community Development Committee (CDC), offering services such as parenting support, violence interruption support, sports programmes, vocational skills...