The judiciary is one of the most important arms of government. Its chief mission is to resolve disputes in a just and timely manner to protect the rights and liberties of not some or those who can afford it, but of all, thereby facilitating the attainment of the rule of law. It performs this function by providing independent, non-political, accessible, and responsive fora for the resolution of matters of law.

I am not a lawyer nor am I a legal luminary, I am a behavioural scientist who has a deep interest in the well-being of nations and justice that has a direct link to well-being. I have been observing the Jamaican judiciary for the past 20 years, and I have concluded that Jamaican governments past and present have failed the Jamaican people.

Offering transparent, responsive, and accountable justice for all is a fundamental right and matter of addressing the psychological and emotional well-being of a nation’s citizen. Too many cries for “We want justice” over the years have fallen on unresponsive governments. Justice is a right, and it should be for the people and of the people.

The Ministry of Justice’s (MOJ) visions statement states: “MOJ is to be the leader in the development of a modernised justice framework which engenders trust and confidence.” The mission is to “contribute to the social and economic development of Jamaica through the provision of legal and policy frameworks with which justice services are efficiently and effectively delivered to all”. These expressions sound like beautiful language; however, the question must be asked: Is MOJ fulfilling its vision and mission as stated on its website?

Cleaning up the court system — Learning from Kenya

In 2011, Kenya’s Chief Justice Willy Mutunga, in a speech four months after he was confirmed in the position, uttered these words: “We found a judiciary that was designed to fail. We found an institution so frail in its structures, so thin on resources, so low on its confidence, so deficient in integrity, so weak in its public support that to have expected it to deliver justice was to be wildly optimistic.”

He was not alone, many of his countrymen agreed with him and even joked regularly saying to each other: “Why hire a lawyer when you can buy a judge?”

Some of the issues faced in Kenya have plagued the Jamaica judiciary for years. However, Kenya has been able to overcome many of their problems with political will, collaborative consultation, and a robust transformational leadership.

Just for some context, in 2011, Kenya had only 53 judges and 330 magistrates for a population of 41.4 million. There was a massive backlog of almost one million cases. Litigants often bribed staff to get earlier court dates or would ‘lose’ case files and prevent hearings altogether. In 2010, 43 per cent of Kenyans who sought services from the judiciary reported paying bribes, according to Transparency International.

The late 2011 Kenyan Coalition Government pulled together a reform team to fix the system and implement well-needed changes. The team began by sorting through the many previously proposed reforms, including internal reports, recommendations from civil society organisations, and the work of a 2009 task force. They consulted extensively with judges, magistrates, and staff to ensure internal support for the reform agenda.

The result of the work of the team was a plan known as the Judiciary Transformation Framework, issued in May 2012, which identified four pillars of reform:

• people-centred delivery of justice;

• improving organisational culture and professionalism;

• ensuring adequate infrastructure and resources; and

• making better use of information technology.

All this is no different from what the Jamaican judiciary needs to be doing as part of its reform agenda.

The first pillar, which focused on ensuring access to justice and public engagement, included such actions as establishing customer care desks to answer questions, simplifying court procedures, creating a case management system, and strengthening complaint mechanisms.

The second pillar focused on changing the judiciary’s institutional culture, increasing training, and clarifying individuals’ responsibilities.

The third and fourth pillars sought to expand the court system, to computerise its procedures, and to upgrade its IT infrastructure.

Moving in the right direction

I have listened to the utterances of Justice Minister Delroy Chuck since he has taken office, and I am liking what I am hearing. Much credit must be given to former Minister of Justice Mark Golding for his role in some of the fruits the judiciary now reaps. We must give respect when respect is due!

Chuck, like a good politician, has made some bold commitments to the Jamaican people that he is serious about taking justice reform to the next level. The recent handing over of digital audio-recording and video-link equipment by the European Union-funded Justice, Security, Accountability and Transparency (JSAT) project, the ongoing plea bargaining project, the amendment of anachronistic fines on the books, increasing the judges stock, and adding to the staff complement to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions are all small but necessary steps in the right direction.

However, the successful implementation of the entire framework of reforms for Jamaica’s justice system is dependent on the strength, resolve and commitment of the political leadership, the judiciary, and the degree of support from the public and other governmental agencies.

Monitoring and evaluation systems should be developed by an oversight body and a continuous appraisal system designed to monitor the progress. The implementation of the justice reform agenda should be Minister Chuck’s number one priority and should be supported by a professional and robust secretariat if his staff is too overwhelmed dealing with other important issues related to the reform agenda.

Let’s take justice reform to the next level, Minister. This could become your legacy that is celebrated for generations to come. Let’s get it done! We want justice…reform!

Henry J Lewis is a lecturer at the University of Technology, Jamaica, School of Humanities and Social Sciences. Send comments to the Observer or hjlewis@utech.edu.jm.