JPs Urged to Submit Annual Reports

Justices of the Peace (JPs) are being reminded to adhere to the law, which requires them to submit annual reports to the Custos of the parish in which they have been commissioned.

According to Justice Minister, Hon. Delroy Chuck, the Justices of the Peace Act 2018 stipulates that JPs must provide annual reports to the Custos of their parish, but less than 60 per cent of serving JPs are following the law, and they run the risk of being decommissioned.

“The Custodes have been insisting that we should decommission those who fail to send in an annual report, but we have not done so as yet. But, it won’t be long before we decide that unless you send in an annual report, so we know that you exist in the jurisdiction, then you may well be decommissioned,” the Minister said, during a commissioning ceremony for JPs held recently at the Lighthouse Assembly in Spanish Town, St. Catherine.

He noted that the law now allows JPs to serve anywhere on the island, and once they leave the parish that they were commissioned to serve, they must inform the Custos of the parish.

“You can do any form of JP service anywhere in the island, but if you move to another parish, to live in another parish, then you should really move your role to the Custos in that parish. Naturally, if you are still working in the parish that you were commissioned in, you can still retain that position,” the Minister said.

For her part, Custos of St. Catherine, Hon. Icylin M. Golding, noted that some JPs disappear shortly after they are commissioned, either relocating or changing their numbers, and for “whatever reason, they cannot be located”.

“The area you are commissioned to will now be underserved, and that is creating a problem. All you need to do is just to communicate with my office and the Justice of the Peace Association,” the Custos said.

“We will try to fill that gap until you are settled elsewhere. Remember that oath you are taking. I am encouraging all of the newly commissioned JPs to take the office seriously,” she urged.

Meanwhile, newly commissioned JP, Orville Levy, said JPs play a pivotal role in the society.

“We are entrusted with more than just signatories to documents or presiding over minor disputes. We are called to be the guardians of fairness, the beacons of integrity, and builders of peace,” he said.