Dear Editor,

If the authorities did in fact keep the acting custos in the dark and failed to inform him that he was about to be replaced, that would have been a clumsy sin of omission. However, the response of the justices of the peace in Manchester is equally deserving of negative commentary.

Justices of the peace, in keeping with the Judicial Oath, are sworn to uphold law and order. In exact words: “I do swear that I will well and truly serve our Sovereign Lady Queen Elizabeth the Second, Her Heirs and successors… and I will do right to all manner of people after the laws and usages of Jamaica without fear or favour, affection or ill will. So help me God.”

The “laws and usages of Jamaica” empower the prime minister and the governor general to act on behalf of Her Majesty in appointing custodes. In this, they are not obliged to seek or to accept advice from anyone; and JPs have no special right, privilege or duty to

suggest, nay insist, that their opinions be considered in determining who shall be a custos rotulorum.

The office of a justice of the peace is honorary. It is conferred on people recommended by communities and accepted by the authorities. No one is entitled to it. The service is voluntary and based primarily on a pledge to serve the people without anticipation of reward or further recognition. It seems to me that anyone who no longer subscribes to these terms and wishes to campaign against the system should first resign the commission, free himself/herself of the oath of office and then demand change. The shabby alternative is what we are now witnessing: Justices of the peace attempting to usurp authority, making public “cass-cass” and, wittingly or unwittingly, inciting others against the manner of appointing the governor general’s representative.

They all need to be reminded that the custos is not a representative of justices of the peace, and that the law of the land states clearly: “The Custos of the parish is the representative of the Governor-General within the parish. It is his/her duty, in the absence of the Governor-General, to receive the Sovereign, any member of the royal family, the Prime Minister on an official visit, or any important personage commended by the Governor-General who arrives within the precincts of the parish. It is his duty to receive the Governor-General when he pays official visits to the parish.”

Ken Jones

kensjones2002@yahoo.com