JAMAICANS are again being urged to take advantage of the Ministry of Justice’s mediation and restorative justice programmes.

Addressing a divisional conference staged by the ministry at Jamaica Conference Centre in downtown, Kingston on Thursday to mark United Nations’ World Day of Social Justice, portfolio minister Delroy Chuck pointed to the success of the programmes even as he encouraged more people need to take advantage of this opportunity.

According to Chuck, the courts have started to see a reduction in backlog due to an increase in the number of people who buy into the idea of restorative justice and are solving their conflicts outside the courts. But Chuck argued that if more people use mediation and restorative justice to address their conflicts the number of cases that end up before a judge would be further reduced.

“We have programmes in the Ministry of Justice which are successful, useful, and beneficial but for one reason or another people don’t know about them and they are not utilising them. We have so many instances of abuse, conflicts, criminality, and if people were just aware of the services being provided by the ministry and utilising them, so many of the abuses, retaliation and reprisals could be avoided,” said Chuck.

“If people get into an argument and one injures the other verbally or physically, instead of going to a gunman or to family and friends to beat up the other, they could just go to a restorative justice centre and see how their arguments and conflicts could be resolved. We would have a more peaceful and harmonious society,” reasoned Chuck.

According to the justice minister, the practice of community mediation needs to be promoted across the island.

He argued that the courts should be the last resort when citizens are in conflict with each other.

The justice minister added that Jamaica needs to get to a place where people learn better ways to resolve their disagreements .

“I would like to see community mediation promoted, where matters can be dealt with within the communities, and this is why we have now teamed up with Project STAR [a social and economic transformation initiative created by Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica in partnership with Jamaica Constabulary Force]. Keith Duncan [head of Project STAR] and myself recently signed a memorandum of understanding wherein communities, the conflicts within these communities, the abuses in the home, can be referred to one of these social justice services,” Chuck said.

“We have far too many disputes in the homes and in the neighbourhoods that remain unresolved and parties just cut their eyes at each other every day. The services are available for you to call a restorative justice facilitator, or go to victim services, and not only get information but advice and solve the disharmony, the problems you have, and the broken relationships. We believe that people should learn to live with one another. It is always the case that they do get into conflict, they do have disagreements, but there must be appropriate and amicable, harmonious ways to bring back your relationship and restore peace and harmony between one another,” emphasised Chuck.

— Jason Cross