KINGSTON, Jamaica — Chief Justice, Zaila McCalla announced over the weekend the establishment of the Insolvency Division of the Supreme Court.

The announcement was made at a training session, where members of the judiciary were sensitised on the new provisions of the Insolvency Act, a news release from the Court Management Division disclosed.

According to the release, the Act makes provision for Jamaicans filing for bankruptcy to benefit from a more business friendly approach to adjudicating these matters.

It sets out changes to the application process, the role of the courts, personal and corporate insolvency, specific sections of the Companies Act as well as the role and functions of the supervisor of insolvency.  

McCalla, outlined some of the objectives of the Act, highlighting that, “the main objective of modern Insolvency laws is rehabilitation of the debtor where it is possible, maximizing payments to creditors, distribution of assets fairly and equitably, and penalizing persons found culpable in the insolvency.”

Director General of the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries (MICAF) Vivian Brown outlined the broader benefits of the Act to Jamaica’s economy, business sector and overall growth.  

He said, “the new Insolvency Act and the overall insolvency regime are very important to Jamaica today and our quest to achieve sustainable economic growth and to drive job creation.  

“The fact is that it is a very important component in terms of the business environment reform, reducing the stigma of business failure, encouraging entrepreneurship and releasing reorganized capital for business endeavours and the judiciary has an integral role to play in all of this.”

Justice Ferdinand Smith, Supervisor of Insolvency, was the main presenter.

The Insolvency Act, which repealed the Bankruptcy Act came into operation in January 2015.