Debate on the DNA Evidence Act 2015 will continue in the Senate this week, after Minister of Justice, Hon. Mark Golding, agreed to a request by Opposition Senators to allow them more time to study the Bill, during the sitting of the Upper House on December 4. The House of Representatives recently passed the Bill, which Minister Golding said is...

The Senate, on Thursday, December 3, passed two pieces of legislation aimed at effecting reforms within the justice system. These are the Judicature (Resident Magistrate’s) (Amendment and Change of Name) Act 2015 and the Judicature (Supreme Court) (Amendment) Act. Piloting the Bills, Minister of Justice, Senator the Hon. Mark Golding, said the Judicature (Supreme Court) (Amendment) Act seeks to establish...

It is being proposed that a National Election Campaign Fund be established for persons to make donations towards the country’s electoral process. This is one of the recommended changes in the Representation of the People (Amendment) Act, 2015, which deals with the issue of campaign financing in Jamaica. Opening the debate on the Bill in the House on November 24,...

Government Senator, Dr. Angela Brown Burke, says the establishment of a final appellate court in Jamaica is not feasible. “A Jamaican final court of appeal is not workable and not desirable at this time,” Senator Brown Burke emphasised. She was making her contribution to the debate on the three Bills, which seek to make the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) Jamaica’s...

Government Senator, Lambert Brown, is urging his colleagues to put country over partisan interest, when the vote is taken on the Bills seeking to make the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) the final court of appeal for Jamaica. “It is my view that the Senate must rise above politics of opposing for opposing sake. Jamaica has suffered for too long...

A new Road Traffic Act was passed by the House of Representatives on Tuesday, November 10. The Bill was piloted by Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Transport, Works and Housing, Hon. Dr. Morais Guy. The Government took the decision to repeal the existing Road Traffic Act, promulgated in 1938, and replace it with a new Act that is...

The Privileges Committee of the Senate on Friday, November 6, commenced its private meeting on a motion moved by Opposition Senator Arthur Williams. The motion addresses the recent suspension of Opposition Senator Marlene Malahoo Forte. Speaking at Friday’s sitting, President of the Senate, Senator Floyd Morris, said “based on the seriousness of the motion that has been moved, and based...

The House of Representatives, on Tuesday, October 20, approved the withdrawal of $406.5 million from the Capital Development Fund (CDF) to finance the bauxite development programmes. Minister of Finance and Planning, Dr. the Hon. Peter Phillips, informed that $200 million will go to the Jamaica Bauxite Institute (JBI) to deal with pollution control, red mud disposal and water treatment. The...