KINGSTON, Jamaica —President of the Court of Appeal Justice Marva McDonald-Bishop, is encouraging justices of the peace (JPs) to serve as a bridge between Jamaica’s legal system and mentally ill individuals in conflict with the law, ensuring they are treated with fairness, dignity, and compassion.

She was delivering the main address during the Lay Magistrates’ Association of Jamaica (LMAJ) Annual Golden Scale Awards Banquet, held at the AC Hotel by Marriott Kingston on Saturday.

McDonald-Bishop cited cases in which mentally ill individuals have languished in Jamaica’s prison system for years after being deemed unfit to plead.

She further highlighted recommendations from the Jamaica Justice System Reform Task Force (2007), which, among other proposals, emphasised the need for alternative programmes outside the formal criminal justice system to support vulnerable individuals who commit less serious offences.

Justice McDonald-Bishop noted that despite recommendations, the troubling phenomenon of inadequate and inappropriate treatment of mentally challenged individuals who come into conflict with the law persists to this day.

Consequently, she emphasised that justices of the peace have a vital role to play in supporting the formal justice system in managing such cases.

“My focus is on the importance of integrating clear ethics in the administration of justice as it relates to mentally ill offenders. We have to recognise that we need a method to lead to more compassionate and effective justice outcomes, prioritising rehabilitation and support, victim offender reconciliation, community engagement and healing,” the High Court judge pointed out.

Justice McDonald-Bishop told the JPs that they have a critical role to play in bridging the gap between the formal justice system and the needs of ordinary citizens.

“So while you are not mental health professionals, you can assist meaningfully in how persons with mental illness are treated in the justice system and the wider community. You can act as that bridge between the formal legal system and the community by helping to balance justice with humanity for vulnerable, mentally ill individuals in conflict with the law,” she stated.

Justice McDonald-Bishop further emphasised that JPs and lay magistrates have an opportunity to serve as community gatekeepers in support of mental health and restorative justice.

“You can help create pathways where individuals dealing with mental health issues are not criminalised but, instead, guided towards treatment and support,” the Court of Appeal president encouraged.

She added that her vision is for justices of the peace to function holistically as community gatekeepers – guarding the legal order while also “connecting individuals to care and helping vulnerable persons with mental health issues towards treatment and integration, rather than stigmatisation and incarceration”.

—JIS