Based on the English common law
Judicial independence is guaranteed by the Jamaican Constitution.
The Chief Justice:
Head of the Jamaican Judiciary
Appointed by the Governor General of Jamaica, on the recommendation
of the Prime Minster after consultation with the Leader of the Opposition
Shows the hierarchy of Courts in The Jamaican Judicial system
Civil Proceedings including Matrimonial matters,
Probates, Judicial Review and other Judicial
Proceedings
NB. All the above courts are presided over by Resident Magistrates
COURT OF SUPREME COURT CRIMINAL DIVISION HIGH COURT COMMERCIAL
CIVIL DIVISION DIVISION
APPEAL •Established
•Cases for offences
which may attract Hears civil Hears claims
•Highest under the the death penalty proceedings arising out of
Judicature and/or punishable including: trade and
Appellate Court with imprisonment
(Supreme Court) commerce
exceeding five (5) including:
•Headed by a Act years. •Matrimonial
President matters,
•Admiralty
•Sits for three (3)
Proceedings,
•Court’s terms: Hilary •Probate,
•Banking,
judgments may •Has unlimited (January to April),
original Easter (April to July), •Insurance,
be appealed to •Judicial Review
and, Michaelmas •Hire Purchase
Her Majesty-in- jurisdiction in (September to
and
Transactions,
Council via criminal and civil December). •Contracts And
cases. •Judicial
Judicial Proceedings •Questions
•Sits in circuits in all Arising From
Committee of rural parishes at
under the
Commercial
the Privy Council, Constitution.
specified times Arbitrations.
London. during each term,
while the home •Commercial
Circuit Court deals matters are also
with cases for the heard in other
parishes of Kingston Civil Courts at
and St. Andrew the Supreme
Court level.
GUN COURT REVENUE RESIDENT CORPORATE AREA RESIDENT MAGISTRATE’S
COURT – SPECIALIZED
COURTS
•Tries all criminal COURT MAGISTRATE’S DIVISION
•The Corporate Area
cases involving
firearms except •Established COURT Criminal Court, located Presided over by
at Half Way Tree, deals Senior Resident
murders. under the with all criminal cases for
•Established in all Magistrates
Judicature the parishes of Kingston
parishes of Jamaica.
(Revenue and St. Andrew •The Family Court,
•Established by Court) Act
•Have limited jurisdiction to •The Coroner’s Court
parliament in •The Corporate Area Civil
hear both civil and criminal Court at Sutton Street •The Children’s Court
1974 to combat
rising gun •Has jurisdiction cases as prescribed by the deals with all civil cases •The Traffic Court
over matters Judicature (Resident for the two (2) parishes •The Small Claims
violence and Magistrates) Act. •The Family Court, Court,
was pursuant to Coroner’s Court,
various tax Children’s Court, Traffic
•The Gun Court (R.M.
empowered to •Has no power to hold trials Division) and
try accused legislation, after Court, Small Claims
of certain criminal offences Court, the Gun Court •The Tax Court
persons in the taxpayer
including treason, murder (R.M. Division) and the
camera, without has exhausted and rape. However, a Tax Court are
a jury. all Preliminary Enquiry is held specialized divisions
administrative to determine whether the presided over by
avenues for evidence is sufficient for Resident Magistrates.
appealing a the accused to stand trial
taxation at the Supreme Court.
decision.
Ministry of Justice
To provide the legal and policy framework within which justice services are
efficiently and effectively delivered to all.
Project Objectives
To collect, collate, store and disseminate accurate and timely information to all
required sources on behalf of the Jamaican Judiciary. For example, to such
sources as the Jamaica Crime Observatory (JCO), the Planning Institute of Jamaica
(PIOJ), the Ministry of Justice and the Coexistence and Citizen Security
Standardized Regional Indicator System.
There is presently no statistical unit based at the Court of Appeal, the
Supreme Court of Jamaica or in the Resident Magistrates Courts. The
responsibility for data collection and storage is carried out by the
Strategic Planning, Policy Research and Evaluation Division of the
Ministry of Justice.
Important
This project will enable the formation of a Court Statistics
Unit/Department to be established at the Supreme Court of Jamaica and
this unit will be able to assist in fulfilling the mandates of the Jamaica
Crime Observatory and the Coexistence and Citizen Security Standardized
Regional Indicator System.
Functions
Collate, store and disseminate accurate and timely data to all required sources.
Analysis of data to inform policies for Jamaica’s development
Grant the public access to specified data via the Supreme Court’s website.
www.sc.gov.jm
Chief Justice, Database Administrator, Statistician (Full Access)
Court Administrators, Judges (Partial Privileges to Summary Data)
Supervisors (Partial Privileges to Summary Data)
Data Entry Clerks and Other clerks (partial access including data entry
privileges)
The Public (viewing privileges)
System Name : Judicial Enforcement System (JEMS)
Designed for advanced court functionality to initiate, maintain, track and calendar
cases with efficiency through to the disposition.
Increased accountability, productivity and enhanced efficiency in the courts.
Features of the Judicial Enforcement System (JEMS)
Real Time Processing and Scheduling of cases for court
Performs task in real time such as rescheduling cases and updating files in court.
Automated Court Processes
Allows the court to define and automate virtually any simple procedure which
will minimize training needs and room for errors in the system. It also will improve
efficiency and accuracy of the courts’ workflow processes.
Court Document Generation
Allows the system to design and print any number of forms or other documents
including outputting data entered into JEMS.
Advanced Information Sharing
Supports multiple court agencies through facilitating information sharing and the
duplication of entry is minimized. This feature also supports the setting up of
security levels and restrictions within the system.
Advanced Technology Add-Ons
The software fully integrates with add-ons such as imaging, e-signatures, e-filing,
Pocket JEMS and mobile JEMS
About two (2) years ago JEMS was introduced in the Resident Magistrate’s Court
in Clarendon as a pilot project. At that time the plan was to use the server at the
Supreme Court as the storage area for court data. Nodes would link the server at the
Supreme court with computers in the Resident Magistrates Court. However, there
is currently no interconnectivity between the courts and a wide area network is
now needed to link all courts
JEMS was recently upgraded at the Supreme Court and training is currently taking
place for all court personnel. The staff of the Resident Magistrates Courts will
need to be trained to use the system.
Data is presently collected manually from the court sheets by assigned staff
members in all the courts across the island, based on requests from the
Ministry of Justice and other entities.
Supreme Court and Circuit Courts
Data is collected manually from the court sheets at the end of the term and sent
to the Ministry of Justice. The court is attended by one clerk per court which makes
it extremely difficult for data entry especially in courts in which cases are set for
mention ,where the volume of work is heavy.
Gun Court
Data is collected manually from the court sheets on a quarterly basis. This
collection process is fraught with difficulties and may result in inaccurate
figures because of the volume of work presently in the Gun Court. The Gun Court
currently handles 25-30 new cases per week.
The process of entering cases into JEMS had commenced in the Gun Court but that
process had to be stopped because of the volume of work and lack of
equipment (computers, data entry personnel etc.).
Resident Magistrates Court
Data is collected daily from court sheets or whenever the need arises.
However the court sheets are usually in court during the days and
unavailable to the staff during working hours.
Handles over 125 listed cases on a weekly basis, depending on the parish
in which the court is situated.
Except in the parishes of Kingston and St. Andrew where there is a
designated Traffic Court The Resident Magistrates Courts handle traffic
cases which run into the hundreds on a weekly basis.
No such analysis is currently being undertaken by the
Jamaican Court System
Court Management Services recently assumed the mantle of
directing the development of the Jamaican Court System
from the Ministry of Justice
It is envisioned that with the genesis of this programme and
the full implementation of the Court Management Services,
the courts will now be empowered to conceptualize and
implement its own research policies, which would include
delinquency analysis methodologies
However, JEMS will be able to capture demographic data on
recidivism
Due to the entry of the Jamaican society into the information age more
accurate data is now being required by various entities as well as
International Agencies. Consequently, there is now an urgent need for the
courts to manage their own databases and be involved in the production,
storage and dissemination of that data.
They must now be equipped to assist the research process in developing
policies for the Jamaican Citizenry.
There are various legislations and regulations requiring periodic
forwarding of reports, returns and notices to external agencies relating to
children for example but difficulties are being experienced by the courts in
fulfilling their obligations due to lack of resources.
Ruling
Cases D.P.P. Supreme Court M.O.J. Other agencies
Investigation (J.C.F)
Complaints
Cases Resident Magistrate Court
Investigation (J.C.F.) ( Clerk of Courts) Ruling
The above diagram shows the information flow for the Supreme Court and
Resident Magistrates Court for criminal matters.
700
635
600
530
500
408
400 344
300
281 Total Kgn & St. Andrew
248 282
200 Total Other Areas of Jamaica
100 167
36
14
0 36 41
Rape
Carnal
Incest
Abuse Indecent
Buggery
Assault Abduction
300
255
246
250
200
158
150 Total Kgn & St. Andrew
107 Total Other Areas of Jamaica
101 97
100
75
46
50
18 20
5 8
0
Rape Carnal Incest Indecent Buggery Abduction
Abuse Assault
Divisions 2010 Number 2011 Number
Kingston 11-15 3 11-15 5
Central
Kingston 16-20 3 11-15 16
East
Kingston 11-15 4 11-15 4
West
St. Andrew 11-15 9 11-15 11
Central
St. Andrew 11-15 9 11-15 2
North
St. Andrew 11-15 13 11-15 13
South
THE END!