THE criminal case backlog rate in parish courts has been reduced to below two per cent, the Government has announced.

This is according to Governor General Sir Patrick Allen who said that, overall, “the courts are reducing delays at every level in the delivery of justice”.

Sir Patrick, who was delivering his throne speech during the official opening of the new legislative year on Tuesday, also pointed out that infrastructural improvement of the courts has started and will continue.

“Through the use of public-private partnerships, new courthouses will be built within the next three to six years in Manchester, St Ann, St James, Trelawny, and St Catherine,” he said.

In the meantime, turning to other aspects of the justice system, the governor general noted that in 2022/2023 the restorative justice programme facilitated 2,528 referrals, which resulted in most being successfully completed. Restorative justice is a process whereby all the parties with a stake in an offence come together to collectively resolve the conflict and to reintegrate the offender into the community.

“The projection is to sensitise 50 per cent of high schools and up to 20 per cent of the over 4,000 churches across the island in 2023/2024,” he said.

He noted as well that during financial year 2022/2023 the Legal Aid Council provided legal representation for more than 3,000 marginalised persons islandwide, and 640 persons benefited from legal advice via the council’s mobile justice units.

— Alecia Smith