Harper

Helping to modernise Jamaica's justice system will be a key issue on Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper's agenda when he arrives here today for an official two-day visit.

A statement from the Office of the Prime Minister said Harper and Prime Minister Bruce Golding are expected to sign a Memorandum of Understanding on Tuesday at Jamaica House reaffirming Canadian assistance.

Canada has committed CND$18.5 million to the reform process, the bulk of which will come from the Canadian International Development Agency.

Jamaica will continue to benefit from technical assistance from the Canadian department of justice.

Since 2005, the Canadian government has provided financial and technical assistance to overhaul Jamaica's justice system. Canada's Justice Undertakings Social Transformation programme trained staff at local courts, while justice ministry officials travelled to Canada to observe that country's legal operations.

Updating Jamaica's legal structure was one of the primary objectives for P.J. Patterson, Jamaica's prime minister from 1992 to 2006. Early in his administration's third term in January 2003, he approved the establishment of a committee from the legal fraternity to identify areas in need of reform.

Improving appearance

That committee was set up in 2005. Some of its recommendations included improving the physical appearance of courthouses and getting files computerised to lighten the backlog of cases, especially in resident magistrate's courts.

Recently, Justice Minister Senator Dorothy Lightbourne said extensive repairs had been done to the Supreme Court, the Half-Way Tree RM court and courthouses in Mandeville and St Elizabeth. She also said Government purchased the three-storey National Commercial Bank building on King Street for $128 million, to be used as a courthouse.