Executive Director of National Integrity Action (NA) ProfessorTrevor Munroe says recent pronouncements and action from the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Bryan Sykes, will go a long way toward a much-needed restoration of confidence in the integrity and commitment of the judiciary.
Munroe made the remarks at a recent NIA/USAID-sponsored weekend training seminar for the Clerk of the Court and Deputy Clerks at the Iberostar Hotel in St James.
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Citing a Global Competitiveness report that tracks 110 indicators of competitiveness – including Judicial integrity - in 140 countries, Munroe said Jamaica’s consistent ranking within the top one-third or one-quarter of the judicial independence profile was “something we must celebrate, preserve and ensure it is never challenged.”
Munroe also acknowledged the creation of sentencing guidelines as well as general conduct guidelines for Judges, the use of statistical data to track achievements and shortfalls in the courts,
Chief Justice Sykes, pointed out that training was not an end in itself, but a means to an end. “The purpose of training,” he said ‘ is to increase our capacity to deliver the service or whatever it is we are required to deliver.”
Director of Public Prosecutions, Paula Llewellyn supported the assertions on training, saying that the seminar was designed to enhance their knowledge of the law, of the practice and of the procedures.
