KINGSTON, Jamaica — Parish courts have achieved a reduction in time standard for the completion of cases.

“We are now able to say that our new time standard, the outer band, is 20 months, down from 24 months,” advised Chief Justice, Bryan Sykes.

He was addressing a swearing-in ceremony at King’s House on Monday, where five members of the judiciary were appointed to permanent posts and another five to higher office for the Michaelmas Term.

Justice Sykes shared that the current completion rates are “simple cases in 90 days, standard cases 180 days, complex cases 12 months, highly complex, 20 months”.

Justice Sykes pointed out that this has been made possible due to the reduction in the net backlog of cases, which is now under five per cent.

He explained that there is no backlog to impede the flow of cases through the parish courts.

“This is something that we have been striving for and we have now achieved that, but this has to be supported by appropriate technology,” he said.

Justice Sykes reasoned that the efficiency of Jamaica’s parish courts can be further boosted with an integrated electronic case management system.

In June, Minister of Justice, Delroy Chuck, said the Government was seeking to fast-track the implementation of the paperless and electronic system, as part of the ongoing modernisation and digitisation of Jamaica’s justice system.

Meanwhile, Justice Sykes said parish courts continue to be among the most efficient courts at that level in the Commonwealth Caribbean.

“And our statistician tells us in the wider Latin American region and certainly the statistician also tells us that our legal system overall is one of the best in the Caribbean and Latin American region in terms of productivity,” he noted.

— JIS