The Legal Reform Department is the principal Law Reform Agency in Jamaica and is one of the four legal Departments under the Ministry of Justice, the others being: the Attorney General’s Department, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel. The Legal Reform Department had its genesis in 1973 as a division under the Ministry of Justice and later gained departmental status.
The mandate of the Legal Reform Department is:
“To keep under review the laws applicable in Jamaica with a view to its systematic reform to meet the changing needs of the Jamaican Society, and to assist in the implementation of law reform proposals in accordance with Government policy.”
The Department therefore performs the dual functions of recommending law reform and implementing law reform recommendations and in addition performs various ancillary or supplemental duties.