40 JPs graduate from justice training programme

Forty Justices of the Peace (JPs) from Kingston and St Andrew last Thursday graduated from a training programme organised by the Justice Training Institute (JTI).

The programme, which aims, among other things, to significantly boost the capacity of the lay magistrates' courts, forms part of the justice ministry's undertaking, through the JTI, to further strengthen JPs' capabilities by assisting them to improve the services they provide in their communities.

The specialised training was administered in May by retired High Court Judge Justice Marva McIntosh and covered wide-ranging topics, including judicial conduct, ethics, court pro-cedures and court rules, the trial process, evidence, the rules of admissibility and sentencing.

Addressing the graduation ceremony at the Medallion Hall Hotel in St Andrew, Justice Minister Delroy Chuck said there are plans to significantly increase the range of matters over which JPs serving as lay magistrates can adjudicate.

Limited jurisdiction

"I am working on that so that you will have many more areas. It is important that you understand that (your current) limited jurisdiction is in no way a reflection of the enormity of your role, responsibility and importance in the advancement of justice," he said.

Chuck encouraged the JPs to exercise impartiality when serving as lay magistrates by, among other things, always listening to arguments from all parties in matters over which they preside before pronouncing judgments.

The minister reiterated the illegality of JPs charging for their services, noting that such an act engenders corruption.

He cited examples where that has been done and also where JPs have vouched for persons of questionable character, noting that those are dangerous precedents.

While acknowledging that JPs are not paid for their services, Chuck nonetheless maintained that "when you start taking money, the likelihood is that you are promoting corruption. It is wrong and creates a major problem".

Chuck, however, acknowledged arguments proposing a stipend payment to JPs, but emphasised that it is a process "unlikely to happen immediately".

In her remarks, chief technical director in the ministry, Grace Ann Stewart McFarlane, noted that the ministry has been consistent in its campaign to reposition JPs at the centre of the justice system, adding that "the country has started to reap the benefits".

She also commended the JTI for training 1,562 JPs in areas such as mediation and restorative justice practices this year.

"This represents the forward thrust of the ministry as it advances the new face of justice by improving access to services and increasing the efficiency of courts," she said.

Custodes rotulorum for Kingston, and for St Andrew, Steadman Fuller and Patricia Dunwell, respectively, also congratulated the JPs.

They urged the JPs to serve in their new capacity as lay magistrates with sound judgement and not to confine themselves to the courtroom, but to venture into the community.