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Public Advisory from Cabinet Sub-committee on the Review of the Detention System

By: Gillian Haughton, September 2, 2014

The Key Point:

On August 18, 2014, Cabinet appointed a Sub-committee led by the Ministers of National Security and Justice to review the detention system and to develop a strategic response to the issue of the treatment of persons in lock-ups and correctional facilities
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The Facts

  • Ministers Bunting and Golding invited stakeholders from a wide cross-section of entities to form the membership of the Sub-committee.
  • Minister Bunting chaired the meeting and affirmed the Government’s commitment to improve existing conditions to satisfy international human rights standards in the operation of lock-ups and correctional facilities.

The Full Story

On August 18, 2014, Cabinet appointed a Sub-committee led by the Ministers of National Security and Justice to review the detention system and to develop a strategic response to the issue of the treatment of persons in lock-ups and correctional facilities, including the necessary infrastructural modifications. Consequently, a meeting of the Sub-committee was convened on August 28, 2014, to address same.

Ministers Bunting and Golding invited stakeholders from a wide cross-section of entities to form the membership of the Sub-committee. This committee comprises representatives from the following:

1)    The Ministry of National Security

2)    The Ministry of Justice

3)    Ministry of Youth and Culture

4)    The Jamaica Constabulary Force

5)    The Department of Correctional Services

6)    The Resident Magistrates Association

7)    The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions

8)    INDECOM

9)    The Office of the Public Defender

10)  The Office of the Children’s Advocate

11)  The Attorney General’s Department

12)  The Legal Reform Department

13)  The Legal Aid Council

14)  The Ministry of Health

15)  The Police Civilian Oversight Authority

16)  Custodes Rotulorum

17)  Stand Up Jamaica

18)  Representatives from the Human Rights Community

19)  The Jamaican Bar Association

20)  The Advocates Association

Minister Bunting chaired the meeting and affirmed the Government’s commitment to improve existing conditions to satisfy international human rights standards in the operation of lock-ups and correctional facilities.

However, there are significant challenges to achieving these, primarily:

  1. The outdated physical infrastructure of the lock-ups and prisons, which in the main are colonial era assets.
  2. The human and financial resources available to supervise and operate lock-ups and prisons are woefully inadequate.
  3. The legal and administrative procedures governing the arrest /bail/oversight of persons in custody are cumbersome.

Notwithstanding these challenges, some improvements have been effected in the past two years:

  1. The number of juveniles in correctional or remand facilities has been reduced by 42% from 446 in 2012 to 259 presently. In addition the female juveniles have been consolidated from three facilities (two of which were also adult facilities) down to one.
  2. The number of adults in correctional or remand facilities has also been reduced and a reclassification exercise is underway to transfer inmates from maximum to medium security facilities.
  3. The number of persons in police custody has decreased by 25% in the last year, resulting in a system wide reduction in overcapacity from 100% down to 50%.
  4. Police fatal shooting is down by 45% year to date, and all JCF recruits now receive human rights training.

 

A decision was taken at the meeting to establish three working groups of the Sub-committee to examine and make recommendations to address the following issues:

 

Working Group

 

Chairman
(i) The reduction of the overcrowding in the facilities (lock-ups and prisons), through process improvements and law reform. 

INDECOM
(ii) To review the current Lock-up Administration Policy, to address issues relating to training, professionalism and accountability of officers who interface with persons in custody, and to address issues relating to persons in custody who have special requirements e.g. children, persons suffering from mental health issues etc. 

Office of the Children’s Advocate
(iii) To examine the infrastructure and logistics of the detention facilities. 

Police Civilian Oversight Authority (PCOA).

 

The head of each working group has been charged to oversee the consultative process regarding the issue assigned, and to provide a draft interim report outlining the findings and recommendations by the end of September 2014.

The Ministry of National Security and the Ministry of Justice are committed to improving the state of the country’s detention facilities, and continue to work closely with stakeholders to develop and implement a strategic response to the issue of the treatment of persons in lock-ups and correctional facilities.

Last Updated: September 2, 2014