In striking out an appeal last week on the basis that it was filed out of time, the Court of Appeal empathised with Detective Constable Oneil Barrett and his lawyer for the judicial blunder of having his bail extended after he was sentenced....
A man who was convicted in 2017 of seven counts of grievous sexual assault and two counts of incest has been freed by the Court of Appeal because of the trial judge’s error in the directions to the jury. The prosecution had asked for a retrial, but...
The Office of the Public Defender, which was established 22 years ago, is still not protected in the Constitution of Jamaica despite promises from successive governments to do so. Yesterday, Acting Public Defender Herbert McKenzie said such a move...
Businessman and former retail pharmacy owner Milton Wray has brought a claim in the Supreme Court in which he is contending that the National Health Fund (NHF) breached the Fair Competition Act. The challenge is anchored on criticism of the Public...
With the justice system currently facing a crisis after fewer than three per cent of the 4,500 prospective jurors summoned turned up for duty last Wednesday, Tom Tavares-Finson, QC, is calling for the abolition of jury trials so that criminal cases...
Although a 25-year-old man was only 13 years old when he fatally stabbed his teenage friend, the Court of Appeal has ruled that he must serve the mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years’ imprisonment for murder. He spent seven years in custody...
A legal challenge is now being mounted against a ruling last year by the Disciplinary Committee of the General Legal Council (GLC) that it is not only clients who can bring complaints against attorneys-at-law, but any person aggrieved by their...
The Advocates’ Association of Jamaica wants to see a significant improvement this year to the snail’s pace disposal of cases in the Jamaican court system. “On the criminal side, I would certainly like to see the matters dealt with more...
Attorney-at-law Zara Lewis is urging the governor general and members of the local Privy Council to visit the jails and prisons to see the conditions under which prisoners are held. The call came on Monday following the Privy Council’s rejection of...
A mother, who on Tuesday, November 2, narrowly escaped spending 10 days in jail for child support because she did not have a balance of $10,000 which she was disputing, said the justice system needs to be overhauled. ‘’The experience has left a...
An affidavit of urgency is to be filed in the Supreme Court in the constitutional motion brought by the religious organisation Freedom Come Ministries, which has taken the Government to court over its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Rev...
The Government is to pay $5.8 million with interest to a motorist whose minibus was seized by the police on January 18, 2020, because he refused to pay a wrecker fee of $18,000. Following the seizure of his Toyota Coaster bus at the Three Miles...
The legal team representing the estate of Kevin O. Smith has warned that a civil suit might be filed against the State arising from Monday’s death of the controversial pastor. Queen’s Counsel Valerie Neita Robertson, who was representing Smith,...
Portland businessman Kevin Sudeall has been fined $1 million or 30 days’ imprisonment for interfering with the administration of justice. Supermarket operators Garfield Sinclair and Lynsetta Sinclair had filed an application on July 7 seeking a...
Four high-school graduates who were recipients of scholarships awarded by the New Day School Alumni Association New York Chapter Inc have been commended for their outstanding academic achievements. They are Ishmael Michael of Calabar High School,...
A policeman’s admission that he made a false entry in the station diary and the prisoner charge book resulted Wednesday in 64-year-old businessman and farmer Derrick Martin being freed, on a no-case submission, of possession and dealing charges for...
Jamaica has not yet made a decision as to whether the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) will be its final appellate court, and recently retired Court of Appeal Judge Hilary Phillips is expressing concerns about the matter. One of the things she...
A man, who was convicted of the murder of his girlfriend, is to face a retrial in the St Elizabeth Circuit Court on April 4 next year, because the Court of Appeal found that there was excessive interference in relation to the many questions asked...
Although it took more than a decade for Rita Marley, the widow of music icon Bob Marley, and his 11 children to get control of his musical assets, they “never give up the fight”, which is the message portrayed in one of Marley’s songs entitled Get...
The overwhelming grief and depression that retired office helper Paula Simmonds has been grappling with for the last two years, since her two teenage grandsons were shot dead by robbers at their home in Kingston, have intensified since February...
Centenarian and retired educator Ruby Wells is very concerned about the welfare and upbringing of the nation’s children. “Poor parenting is causing a lot of problems, especially for our young people,” she said in an interview this week. “Nowadays...
A religious company affiliated with embattled clergyman Jeffrey Shuttleworth has slapped the Government with a lawsuit over the legislation it has used as a vehicle to impose public order and safety amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Freedom Come...
Religious station TBC Radio has been given an 11-day ultimatum by the Broadcasting Commission to turn over a controversial recording over allegations that it may have misused its licence in airing commentary that the state-issued COVID-19 vaccine...
Queen’s Counsel Valerie Neita-Robertson has condemned the actions of two police inspectors whose false testimony against 32-year-old bearer Raheem Panton resulted in him being in custody for a year before he was freed on Thursday of illegal...
Prominent attorney-at-law Hugh Wildman has expressed shock after his application to practise in the Cayman Islands to represent a Jamaican man in the appellate court was rejected. Wildman says he is dissatisfied with the queries raised by Chief...
