Court of Appeal building expansion to be completed by month end

Minister of Justice Delroy Chuck says expansion of the Court of Appeal building on King Street in downtown Kingston is on track for completion by the end of this month.

He made the announcement at a justices of the peace training seminar held at the Jamaica Conference Centre in Kingston on Saturday.

In April, the minister signed an $846-million contract to undertake the project, which will see the addition of three new courtrooms, 13 judges' chambers, and two lounges.

The building, now owned by the Ministry of Justice, formerly housed the Administrator General's Department, which has been relocated to the former Oceana Hotel building on Ocean Boulevard, downtown.

Chuck said the expansion project is part of an aggressive government mandate to create a "first-class" justice system.

"The Government is going to give this justice system 110 per cent support. From the ministry's position, we intend that all of our courts should have not only first-class facilities, they must be five-star facilities," he stated.

"The contractor is going to deliver the Court of Appeal at the end of this month, and it will be first-class facilities when it is opened and Jamaica sees it," he added.

The justice minister said the expansion of the building will facilitate the appointment of more judges.

Jamaica received €4 million in budgetary support through the European Union's 11th European Development Fund (EDF) Programme during fiscal year 2017-18. This allowed for increased budgetary allocation to the Ministry of Justice to fund the project.