KINGSTON, Jamaica — The National Identification System (NIDS) card will include a feature to verify Justices of the Peace (JPs).

This will be denoted on the back of the card, which will save the Government some $7.2 million on not having to print separate IDs for the JPs.

Justice Minister, Delroy Chuck, made the disclosure while speaking at a commissioning ceremony for 40 new JPs in St Thomas, at the Yallahs Baptist Church, on Thursday, July 21.

“When the National ID comes into operation this year [and] you, the newly minted Justices of the Peace, inform on the document that you are a [JP], it will have you noted [as such],” he told them.

The card’s design was unveiled by Prime Minister, Andrew Holness, during the House of Representatives’ sitting on May 24.

It is Jamaica’s first national identification card and a key deliverable of the NIDS project, intended to provide a safe, convenient, and reliable means of proving an individual’s identity.

Chuck reminded the new JPs that the card’s implementation would result in adjustments to some of their services.

“There won’t be a need for you to identify pensioners who are still alive, because the National ID will be able to show that and, therefore, that bit of work will not be necessary,” he informed.

“Even signing passport pictures and documents may not be necessary, because the National ID will definitely be a unique identification for the person and it will be accepted by all public institutions as an appropriate ID,” Chuck added.

Justices of the Peace offer several other services. They include attending children’s and drug courts, considering bail applications, attending police stations, serving as Justices in courts of petty sessions, sitting on licensing panels, and offering counsel and advice.