Justice Minister Delroy Chuck has rapped attorneys for failure to properly file documents in probate and divorce cases.

Making his contribution to the 2023/24 Sectoral Debate in Parliament on Tuesday, Chuck pointed to several improvements in Jamaica’s court system but noted the criminal and civil divisions of the Supreme Court continue to lag behind.

He told the House that for probate and divorce matters, there has been steady progress but delays remain, with lawyers contributing to this.

“In estate matters, for 2022, the average time to dispose of an estate case is 1.5 years, or 18 months. The oldest case disposed of was 33 years, while the shortest time taken to dispose of a case was two months.

“A similar situation pertains with the Family Division of the Supreme Court where the longest case disposed of in 2022 took 33 years, while the shortest was four months,” added Chuck.

He argued that the facts demonstrate that in probate and divorce matters, if attorneys file their documents correctly and follow up regularly, the matters can be completed within months.

“However, far too many cases stretch into years as requisitions and errors are far too frequent. Attorneys can assist the process by being more diligent in the drafting and correcting of their court documents,” said Chuck.

Earlier in his presentation, Chuck boasted that Jamaica’s court system is steadily becoming the best in the Caribbean and aims to be among the best in the world.

“At all levels there has been all-round improvement. Chief Justice Bryan Sykes, President of the Court of Appeal Patrick Brooks, judges of the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court, the parish courts and court staff have toiled steadfastly to improve service delivery. Truth is, we still have a far way to go to ensure justice can be delivered in a timely manner, but in many areas, there have been outstanding improvements,” said Chuck.

The justice minister noted that the parish courts have seen a sharp reduction in the backlog of cases which, in most parishes, is now under five per cent.

“Which means that more than 95 per cent of cases in the parish courts are completed within 24 months,” said Chuck.

“In fact, 90 per cent of these cases are disposed of within 12 months,” added Chuck.

He argued that Jamaica’s court system has been substantially transformed and has been steadily achieving the chief justice’s aim of making it the best in the Caribbean and one of the best in the world.

“In fact, in some areas, the court system is already at world standard,” declared Chuck.

He pointed out that in the parish courts, the disposal rate is now at 124.58 per cent.

“Which means… that for every 100 new cases in 2022, the courts completed 125 cases, thereby continuing to reduce the backlog of cases and the actual time to dispose of each case. Actually, close to 80 per cent of the cases that were started in 2022 were actually completed in 2022. The parish courts are definitely performing at world standards by any measure,” he said.

“In the Supreme Court, significant improvements have occurred. However, the time standard of 24 months is still far away. To be sure, in the Gun Court Division cases are completed within 24 months and there is no backlog of cases presently,” said Chuck.