Gov’t Spent $350 Million for Alternative Justice Services in 2024/25

The Ministry of Justice spent approximately $350 million towards the provision of alternative justice services in the 2024/25 fiscal year.

Portfolio Minister, Hon. Delroy Chuck, made the disclosure during the meeting of the Standing Finance Committee at Gordon House on Thursday (March 6).

Mr. Chuck said focus was placed on mediation, restorative justice, child diversion and justice tours.

“We did several justice tours… in Hanover, Westmoreland, St. Elizabeth, including the legal fairs in Manchester, St. Mary, Kingston, St. Andrew, Clarendon and Westmoreland. The idea was to bring justice to the people,” he said.

“In respect of restorative justice (RJ) conferences, we had 994. In 801 of them, the participants signed agreements. So, it’s an 80 per cent success rate in the RJ conferences, and we catered to over 2,400 victims of crime, with mentoring and consoling a number of these victims of crime,” he added.

The Minister informed that another success story was the child diversion programme, noting that 583 children were mentored from April to September 2024.

In addition, he said that more than $460 million was provided for legal aid.

“We satisfied all the claims by attorneys. In fact, we have about $50 million [left] and we are asking attorneys who still have bills to put them in before the end of March… because we don’t want to hear about the Ministry of Justice owing anything,” Mr. Chuck said.

In terms of infrastructure, the Minister informed that renovations were done on the Linstead Court in St. Catherine and the Balaclava court in St. Elizabeth, which were damaged by Hurricane Beryl in July 2024.

“We spent [more than] $50 million to fix the Balaclava Court,” he said, noting that at the Linstead Court, the floors were removed and a new roof added.

“You have two first-class courts. Any attorney who has visited those courts is so happy that at least they are now in tip-top condition,” he added.