KINGSTON, Jamaica – The Ministry of Legal and Constitutional Affairs has embarked upon an initiative aimed at engaging Jamaicans on the constitutional reform process.
Wayne O. RobertsonAfter more than 60 years under its independence constitution, Jamaica is seeking to move forward with an ambitious constitutional reform agenda. Much of the focus has been on enhancing the distinctively Jamaican character of the constitution through changes such as severing one of the remaining ties with the United Kingdom through the establishment of a republic.
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Wayne O. Robertson, said that the initiative is intended to reach citizens by engagement with them in communities and on the streets.
“We have pivoted… where we are now going into the towns across Jamaica and in the nooks and crannies of Jamaica to engage the man in the street. We recognise that webinars and town hall meetings are very important, but we need to be more granular in our approach,” he told a Jamaica Information Service (JIS) Think Tank.
“The strategy has changed; we are not departing from the other engagements. We are continuing with those and we have completed six town hall meetings in six parishes. We’re not finished, but we have gone throughout Jamaica to engage and to educate Jamaicans on the Constitution and the Bill in particular that is before the house,” Robertson said.
The Permanent Secretary said that, so far, every sector of society has been reached through the constitutional reform engagements.
“I’m not saying that we have reached every single Jamaican, but we have been deliberate in engaging all sectors. We started with the ministries, departments and agencies, we have also met with the private sector, trade unions, vulnerable groups, and we are not stopping there,” he added.
Robertson also announced that the Ministry is working to launch the Jamaica Legal Information Portal (JLIP) by April allowing Jamaicans to access laws and legal literature.
“That portal is revolutionary. Currently, there is no single repository which contains all legal literature in one space. We are proposing to introduce a platform, a website that you can visit, to download any law that you so desire. But we are going beyond that to include the Jamaica Gazette publications and other judicial information,” Robertson said.
He said rulings will also be accessible from the JLIP website.
“If the Supreme Court has a particular ruling, a judgement, you can also download the judgment and read accordingly. It would be a one-stop shop for all the laws of Jamaica. Currently, we are at the point of user acceptance testing and the project is expected to be completed by next month,” he said.
