More efficient judiciary could result in financial windfall, says Chuck

By Halshane Burke   

 

Justice Minister Delroy Chuck has underscored the financial windfall that awaits the economy from a more efficient judiciary.

 

The Justice Minister says billions of dollars is tied up with litigants awaiting the disposal of matters currently before the courts. 

 

"I see that the Administrator General in excess of $50 billion of property, $5 billion of cash in the bank could be passed on to the stakeholders of these estates. 

 

"Matters contested in the commercial section, in fact, virtually in all cases, but especially in probate and sometimes in divorces, lives are being held up, but more so investment cannot take place. And if these matters are completed, then the hundreds of billions of dollars tied up between litigants can be released to go into the economy, which will increase the velocity of transactions and therefore generate even more revenue," he reasoned. 

 

Minister Chuck was speaking Wednesday during the unveiling of the Strategic Business Plan for the Judiciary.

 

 

The leadership team of the country's judiciary is to benefit from training in strategic thinking and planning.

 

Chief Justice Bryan Sykes, who also addressed the launch of the 2024-2029 Strategic Business Plan for the Judiciary, said the judiciary will be partnering with the Jamaica Defence Force for the delivery of the training for the top tier of leaders.

 

"By next year, we will be establishing formal training programmes for the leadership core of the courts, for the leadership judges, for registrars, for court administrators, supervisors to develop the skill and competence in managing courts," he outlined. 

 

"We have learned for the past five years that running courts is not a hit and miss affair. It is actually a discipline. It is actually a subset of management in the United States. You have lawyers who do not wish to practice law, they wish to administer courts, and that is what they have done for their entire lives. And so that is what we wish to do here to improve the professionalism within by which the courts are operating. And so this strategic plan is designed to take us there." 

 

Justice Sykes said it is important to properly train the leadership core to sustain and build on the gains made so far within the judicial system.