KINGSTON, Jamaica— Chief Justice Bryan Sykes says the island’s courts are making steady progress in improving the clearance rate for cases.

According to Sykes, notable among these are two divisions of the Supreme Court.

The High Court Division of the Gun Court has reduced the number of active backlogged cases to under 10 per cent and net backlogs to less than five per cent, while the Revenue Court’s list is up to date.

“What that means is that the High Court Division of the Gun Court is the first court to meet international standards… and so too the Revenue Court. That is a very significant development,” Sykes said.

He was speaking Friday during a media forum titled  ‘A Virtual Conversation with the Judiciary’.

Noting that the Supreme Court’s clearance rate for 2020 was 65.89 per cent, Sykes emphasised that this must gradually increase to 74.35 per cent within the first year and 82.95 per cent in the second thereafter, to significantly reduce the overall number of backlogged cases.

He advised that in pursuit of these targets, measures are being instituted to improve the Court’s performance.

Sykes said that the judiciary’s general performance has been improving over time, noting 2020 statistics indicating that the annual clearance rate for civil cases in the parish courts was 95.34 per cent.

“That is ahead of the projected clearance rate that can be found in our [strategic] plan. The projected clearance rate for year one was 75.98 per cent and 84.76 per cent for year two; that is ahead of target. So, if that is maintained and, perhaps, improved, it means that on the civil side, the parish courts will be backlog-free in six years or less,” he said.

The Chief Justice also noted that the clearance rate for criminal cases in the parish courts for 2020 was 96.47 per cent.

“Based on our strategic plan, the clearance rate for year one was 84.89 per cent and year two, 94.56 per cent, which means, again, that [on] the criminal side, the parish courts are ahead of the projected target,” he said.

Sykes said if current trends continue, it is anticipated that the parish courts’ criminal division will be backlog-free in six years or less.

“We are not where we need to be. But there are encouraging signs that we are heading in the correct direction,” he added.