As the judiciary closes another court term, I take this opportunity to highlight some of the incremental gains which have been made during the term. These gains will contribute in a positive way to the overall adjudication of justice in Jamaica.

Many Jamaicans primarily assess the benchmark of the number of matters disposed of as the main determinant of the performance of the court. While this is a critical measure, it is important to note that the challenges facing the courts require a multifaceted approach and as such, while people assess the rate at which matters are disposed, there are other critical measures that support the case flow process and consequently, gains in those areas are also worth mentioning.

For the purpose of this article, I wish to focus on the strides made to create a court system which is driven by technology.

The novel coronavirus pandemic has catapulted the courts quickly into the virtual work environment. While the courts and its employees remain exempt under the Disaster Risk Management (Amendment) Act, 2021, the courts have had to implement new ways through which the public can interact with the courts while abiding by the measures implemented by the executive arm of Government to slow the spread of the virus.

One of the main ways in which this has been done is through remote hearings. This allowed attorneys and their clients to connect with the courts electronically and have their matters heard from the comfort of their homes and offices. Witnesses also utilised this means to give their testimonies as they played their part in the process that is justice. Remote hearings not only ensured the administration of justice during the pandemic, but also served as a crowd control measure to discourage gatherings at the courts. This is a method of hearing matters that is here to stay and investment should now be made to ensure that there can be greater use of this facility at the parish court level, which is where most Jamaicans interact with the court system.

The Court of Appeal transitioned almost all of their matters to the virtual space and they were heard by videoconferencing or teleconferencing. At the Supreme Court, quite a number of civil matters were also heard by videoconferencing or teleconferencing.

The system is not without fault, and it was with this in mind that the Remote Hearing Guidelines manual was produced in the latter part of the year to streamline the process to ensure consistency and uniformity in the conduct of these matters.

On the heels of the pandemic, the courts also made amendments to how it disburses monies to beneficiaries of maintenance orders. At the start of year, the courts introduced direct deposit, which facilitates the payment of maintenance monies directly to the bank account of recipients. This ensured that this group of people no longer needed to visit the courts to physically collect these payments. This facility resulted in a significant reduction in the number of people who were on the court building at any particular point.

Through a partnership with the Ministry of Justice and the National Works Agency (NWA), the Court Administration Division (CAD) was able to improve the Internet connectivity at the courts to ensure interruptions during matters are minimal. This has been done by connecting the courts in the Corporate Area, as well as those in St Catherine, Manchester, St Elizabeth, and Clarendon to the NWA’s fibre optic network. The remaining courts will be connected to this network in the upcoming year to improve the stability of the connections for virtual hearings in other parishes.

On the criminal side, challenges persist as the inability of the courts to convene jury trials has to some extent slowed the progress that was being made on that side of the court.

Pleadings to agree more bench trials have not found favour with many defendants and, as such, many matters have been given dates further into the future than the courts would have preferred. On this note, the courts will be resuming jury trials in the Hilary Term as there have been adjustments to some courtrooms across the island to facilitate same.

We are still a long way out from our destination; however, we remain on course, and our destination is in view as we seek to reduce the inventory of cases before the court and also to become the best judiciary in the region and among the best judiciaries in the world by 2026.

Kadiesh Fletcher is the director of client services, communications and information at the Court Administration Division (CAD).