More Justices of the Peace Needed

Minister of Justice, Hon. Delroy Chuck, has called on pastors and teachers, as well as other persons of integrity, to make themselves available to serve their country through the office of Justice of the Peace (JP).

Addressing a sensitisation session on justice services held yesterday (September 23) at Sandals Whitehouse Hotel in Westmoreland, Mr. Chuck pointed to a shortage of JPs as well as a backlog of cases in the court system.

“I am hoping that most of the pastors and teachers present here today will make themselves available to become Justices of the Peace … the truth is, we need more hands on deck,” he pointed out.

The Justice Minister commended those JPs who have made themselves available and who were serving their communities and country well.

He informed that plans are in place to increase training of JPs in order to better enable them to carry out their duties. Four training sessions are to be held per year.

The sensitisation sessions, which commenced on September 1 and are scheduled to be carried out until the end of the year, are aimed at raising awareness among key stakeholders about the various services provided by the Ministry of Justice.

Targeted are custodes, JPs, school administrators, teachers, business owners and members of the clergy.

As part of the sessions, some 1,000 community personnel will be trained per month in the area of restorative justice, child diversion, victim support, legal aid, human trafficking, child abuse and domestic violence.

The sessions were being carried out through the Canadian Government-funded Justice Undertakings for Social Transformation programme.

The initiative seeks to strengthen the justice system through the provision of new technologies, tools and processes that will reduce case backlogs, improve case management and help make resolutions of cases more efficient.