Access denied - Lay Magistrates barred from viewing police holding cells
Governor General Dr Patrick Allen will be investigating a complaint that lay magistrates are being barred from viewing the conditions at holding cells at some police stations, which forms part of their responsibility under the law. Some lay magistrates have complained...
No separation, no protection
Some six years after the Keating Report on Childrens' Home in Jamaica was done, information reaching The Gleaner suggests that some places of safety (POS) have ignored a recommendation calling for the separation of criminally charged children from others in the facilities...
Children's homes not yet licensed
Nine months ago after Health Minister Rudyard Spencer instructed operators of privately run children's homes to apply for licences to operate, there are still some institutions operating without the proper permission as set out by the Child Care and Protection Act regulations...
Obtaining a license to operate a children's home
An application fee of $5,000 is charged to start the process. A passport-size photo is required of the home manager with a referral from any three of the following: justice of the peace, minister of religion or an attorney-at-law, resident magistrate...
The Keating recommendations ... six years after... Missing targets for key evaluations
Six years after the Keating Report was commissioned would seem an appropriate time to assess how the recommendations of that report have changed the situation in Jamaican children's homes, places of safety and state agencies...
Court reporters get 'real'
AHEAD OF the Government's plans to introduce real-time reporting in the Resident Magistrate's courts, at least two court reporters had long ago taken the initiative to acquire laptops for the purpose of fast-tracking the compilation of notes for judges...
Lock it down! - Inter-American Commission on Human Rights calls for major overhaul of the lock-up at Hunts Bay Police Station
A preliminary report prepared by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) in December 2008 called for the closure of the Hunts Bay Police Station lock-up in the St Andrew South Division. The damning prelude to the final report, scheduled for release...
Justice at snail's pace
A MULTI-PRONGED approach to remedying the ailments of the justice system appears to be moving at snail's pace. A raft of proposals from recommendations of the 28-member Jamaican Justice Reform Task Force have been introduced and others are close...
Dying for a public morgue - $100 million allocated in Budget but contract still to be signed
The long wait for a new public morgue seems set to continue for some time. Six months after the National Contracts Commission approved the process for the awarding of the contract to construct the morgue, the document is yet to be inked and there is no clear indication...
'Community' for change
There are problems in Springfield, St Thomas, but together the residents have been trying to solve them. The community hasn't been sitting down idly waiting on the Government. Through their community club and other fund-raising initiatives such as walkathons...
Fix that design... Does proposed public morgue have design flaws?
While the Government's plan to construct a new state-of-the-art public morgue has received the nod of approval from civil society, there are lingering concerns about the design that is now on the table. "It has only one dissecting room...
Hope in the hills
Nestled in the cool hills of the Blue Mountains, near Maryland, St Andrew, is a small community which has come to learn the value of community spirit and advocacy over the last five years. Their homes and properties have sustained extensive flood damage...