FALMOUTH, Trelawny — Cornwall Bar Association President Michael Hemmings is calling for legislative changes allowing parish court judges to dispose of lottery scamming matters after one year if the reports on electronic devices are not ready.

The call comes in light of repeated instances wherein reports from the Communication Forensics and Cybercrime Division (CFCD) take a long time to be prepared, causing lottery scam cases to meander through the legal system before eventually crumbling.

“What I’m asking for is that there’ll be some legislative reform if the matter is before the parish court for over 12 months, at least. As it is now, the parish court judge does not have the authority to dispose of the matter, but only to transfer to the circuit court.

“What we want is for there to be change in the law to allow [the judge] to make that decision that, if it is that the matters are not prepared in a manner and the report is not ready within a 12-month period, that that particular judge has the authority to dispose of the matters,” Hemmings said on Sunday at the historic William Knibb Memorial Baptist Church in Falmouth, Trelawny, during the annual Assize Church Service to mark the Michealmas Term of Trelawny Circuit Court.

Last year, while presiding over Trelawny Circuit Court, Chief Justice Bryan Sykes lamented that a number of lottery scamming cases had to be disposed of due to long wait times for reports on electronic devices from CFCD.

“What is happening since I have been here is that the persons who are responsible for this examination of electronic equipment don’t seem to be able to get any report done in time,” Sykes said at the time.

On Sunday, Hemmings also renewed his call for the establishment of a ballistic laboratory in western Jamaica.

He argued that it is taking too long to get results for ballistic tests from the sole laboratory in the Corporate Area.

“As it is now, we have a Western Regional Gun Court that is hearing all gun-related matters for the parishes of St James, Hanover, Westmoreland, and Trelawny… when we need ballistic support or forensic reports they are sent to Kingston for testing to be done on the results generated. And what I’m advocating for in the west is that we have our own laboratory that will prepare these reports, that we need to have matters progress in the court in a swiftly and timely manner,” said Hemmings.

He said he will be taking the advice of Minister of Constitutional Affairs Marlene Malahoo Forte to make a request in writing to Minister of Justice Delroy Chuck to address the issue.