Jamaican Justice System Reform Task Force Final Report June 2007 Jamaican Justice System Reform Task Force (JJSRTF) Prof. Barrington Chevannes, Chair The Hon. Mr. Justice Lensley Wolfe, O.J. (Chief Justice of Jamaica) Mrs. Carol Palmer, J.P. (Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Justice) Mr. Arnaldo Brown (Ministry of National Security) DCP Linval Bailey (Jamaica Constabulary Force) Mr. Dennis Daly, Q.C. (Human Rights Advocate) Rev. Devon Dick, J.P. (Civil Society) Mr. Eric Douglas (Public Sector Reform Unit, Cabinet Office) Mr. Patrick Foster (Attorney-General’s Department) Mrs. Arlene Harrison-Henry (Jamaican Bar Association) Mrs. Janet Davy (Department of Correctional Services) Mrs. Valerie Neita Robertson (Advocates Association) Miss Lisa Palmer (Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions) The Hon. Mr. Justice Seymour Panton, C.D. (Court of Appeal) Ms. Donna Parchment, C.D., J.P. (Dispute Resolution Foundation) Miss Lorna Peddie (Civil Society) Miss Hilary Phillips, Q.C. (Jamaican Bar Association) Miss Kathryn M. Phipps (Jamaica Labour Party) Mrs. Elaine Romans (Court Administrators) Mr. Milton Samuda/Mrs. Stacey Ann Soltau-Robinson (Jamaica Chamber of Commerce) Mrs. Jacqueline Samuels-Brown (Advocates Association) Mrs. Audrey Sewell (Justice Training Institute) Miss Melissa Simms (Youth Representative) Mr. Justice Ronald Hugh Small, Q.C. (Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica) Her Hon. Ms. Lorraine Smith (Resident Magistrates) Mr. Carlton Stephen, J.P. (Lay Magistrates Association) Ms. Audrey Thomas (Public Sector Reform Unit, Cabinet Office) Rt. Rev. Dr. Robert Thompson (Church) Mr. Ronald Thwaites (Civil Society) Jamaican Justice System Reform Project Team Ms. Robin Sully, Project Director (Canadian Bar Association) Mr. Peter Parchment, Project Manager (Ministry of Justice) Dr. Melina Buckley, Senior Project Advisor (Canadian Bar Association) Mr. Andrejs Berzins, Q.C., Senior Project Advisor (Canadian Bar Association) Mrs. Susan Reid-Jones, Project Advisor (Ministry of Justice) Mr. Terry Cyr, Court Administration Consultant (Canadian Bar Association) Mr. Cecil Johnson, Pilot Court Site Co-coordinator (Ministry of Justice) Mr. Michael Cohen, Communications (Ministry of Justice) Ms. Sherri Meyerhoffer, Communications (Canadian Bar Association) Ms. Yvonne Dixon, Project Administration Assistant (Ministry of Justice) Ms. Elisabeth Wilson, Project Administration Assistant (Canadian Bar Association) Ms. Tracy Brown, Project Secretary (Ministry of Justice) Table of Content CHAIRMAN’S MESSAGE..........................................................................................................A INTRODUCTION..........................................................................................................................1 A. THE JAMAICAN JUSTICE SYSTEM REFORM PROJECT.................................... 1 B. THE SCOPE OF THE REVIEW .................................................................................... 1 C. THE REVIEW PROCESS............................................................................................... 2 D. OVERVIEW OF THE REPORT .................................................................................... 4 E. AN INVITATION TO PARTICIPATE.......................................................................... 6 PART 1 - THE JAMAICAN JUSTICE SYSTEM TODAY ......................................................9 A. OVERVIEW OF CURRENT PROBLEMS AND STRENGTHS ................................ 9 a. Problems .................................................................................................................... 9 b. Strengths .................................................................................................................. 10 B. ROOT CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES OF EXISTING PROBLEMS................ 11 C. TRENDS AND PRESSURES ON THE JUSTICE SYSTEM..................................... 13 D. SUMMARY OF THE CURRENT STATUS................................................................ 14 PART 2- THE JAMAICAN JUSTICE SYSTEM OF TOMORROW....................................17 A. A VISION OF THE JAMAICAN JUSTICE SYSTEM IN 2017................................ 17 B. FOUNDATIONAL SHIFTS IN APPROACH ............................................................. 19 C. BENCHMARKS FOR EVALUATING REFORM RECOMMENDATIONS................................................................................................ 20 PART 3 - REINVESTMENT, MODERNISATION AND TRANSFORMATION: THE FRAMEWORK FOR CHANGE ......................................................................................21 A. REINVESTMENT IN THE JUSTICE SYSTEM........................................................ 21 B. THE ELEMENTS OF MODERNISATION ................................................................ 28 C. REFORM AND TRANSFORMATION ....................................................................... 29 PART 4 - THE FOUNDATION OF THE JUSTICE SYSTEM ..............................................33 A. THE PHYSICAL PLANT.............................................................................................. 34 B. MODERNISATION OF COURT ADMINISTRATION ............................................ 41 1. Technology and Management Information Systems............................................ 44 2. Administration Personnel....................................................................................... 49 3. Establishing an Independent Court Services Agency .......................................... 56 C. JUDICIAL INDEPENDENCE AND ACCOUNTABILITY, THE APPOINTMENT PROCESSES AND CONDITIONS OF WORK ........................... 59 1. Judicial Complement and Appointment Processes.............................................. 61 2. Conditions of Service and Working Conditions................................................... 65 a. Supreme Court and Court of Appeal............................................................... 65 b. Resident Magistrates ......................................................................................... 67 3. Judicial Codes of Conduct...................................................................................... 70 4. Mechanisms for Complaints and Discipline ......................................................... 71 D. JUSTICES OF THE PEACE/LAY MAGISTRATES................................................. 72 E. THE PROSECUTORIAL ARM OF JUSTICE ........................................................... 76 F. ACCOUNTABILITY, CONDUCT AND COMPETENCE OF THE LEGAL PROFESSION.................................................................................................. 79 G. BAILIFFS........................................................................................................................85 H. ENHANCING TRAINING CAPACITY AND THE AVAILABILITY OF LEGAL MATERIALS............................................................................................. 87 PART 5 - STRUCTURE, JURISDICTION AND ACCOUNTABILITY...............................91 A. COURTS OF GENERALISED JURISDICTION ....................................................... 91 1. Appellate Courts – The Caribbean Court of Justice ........................................... 92 2. Supreme Court ........................................................................................................ 93 3. Resident Magistrates Court ................................................................................... 95 i. Change Status and Name .................................................................................. 95 ii. Jurisdiction and Functions................................................................................ 96 iii. Coroner’s Court................................................................................................. 99 a. Independent Agency for the Investigation of Police Killings....................... 100 b. Options for Reform of the Coroner’s Court.................................................. 104 c. Backlog Reduction Strategy............................................................................ 106 4. Lay Magistrates’ Court (Petty Sessions Court).................................................. 108 5. Considering A Unified Court for Jamaica.......................................................... 110 B. SPECIALISED AND PROBLEM-SOLVING COURTS.......................................... 112 1. Specialised Courts................................................................................................. 112 2. Problem-Solving Courts ....................................................................................... 114 a. Domestic Violence............................................................................................ 117 b. Mentally Ill Offenders ..................................................................................... 119 c. Family Courts/Children’s Court .................................................................... 121 C. ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURES AND REPORTING RELATIONSHIPS........................................................................................................ 128 D. FOSTERING BETTER COMMUNICATION AND COLLABORATION BETWEEN AND AMONG JUSTICE INSTITUTIONS............................................................................................................ 129 E. ORGANISATIONAL PERFORMANCE STANDARDS ......................................... 133 1. Purpose of Performance Standards..................................................................... 133 2. Establishing and Implementing