KINGSTON, Jamaica (JIS) — The Ministry of Justice will be establishing 14 parish justice centres across the island this year to train 3,000 restorative justice facilitators for the swift resolution of conflicts at the community level.

Work is in progress  to have the first centre up and running by May, said Justice Minister, Delroy Chuck,  at the launch of the Make Your Mark Consultants’ (MYMC) Middle Managers’ Conference 2017, held at The Knutsford Court hotel in Kingston, yesterday.

A project unit within the ministry is conducting site visits for parish justice centres in Portland, St Ann, St Mary and St Andrew. The remaining 10 sites are to be indentified shortly.

Chuck said the centres will facilitate easier access to justice services by members of the public.

“The justice centres will coordinate the alternative dispute resolution (ADR) activities in the parish and we believe that, handled properly, Jamaica will see substantial improvements in the manner in which justice is delivered,” he said

“These justice centres will be where people can come to access information. In this way, we can direct them to where they can get legal advice… and ensure that these centres can make justice services more accessible, and with that, we hope that the delivery of justice will improve,” the minister added.

Additionally, the centres will be used to train Justices of the Peace (JPs) in alternative dispute resolution and restorative justice.