THE PARLOUS state of the Jamaica Printing Services, which took over the functions of the Government Printing Office in 1992, was the subject of a column in this newspaper last week. Our columnist Dennie Quill referred to the frustrations of a member of the public who, in attempting to get copies of recently passed laws, was told there was none and no one could say when they would be available. In another instance, a request for a recently enacted Act of Parliament was met by the response that it was out of print.
This has serious implications for our democracy. A law that has been promulgated by the nation's legislature is not akin to a loaf of bread, for if Shop A runs out of bread there are many alternatives. The facility now functioning as the official Government printers is a monopoly with an important constitutional responsibility which is premised on the fact that the laws governing the people will be easily available at all times.
As our columnist stated, the maxim that "ignorance of the law is no excuse" is based on the presumption that what the law provides will be easily available to all citizens, especially to those intimately involved with the administration of law and justice.
One must question the Government's commitment to the proper administration of justice when the state of this printing facility is considered in conjunction with the unavailability of up-to-date laws for the judges in the island's courts, the apparent abandonment of the Supreme Court library and the perilous state of some of the buildings from which justice is administered.
Yet Government has found the resources to house and equip newfangled agencies such as the Fair Trading Commission, the Financial Services Commission and the Office of Utilites Regulation which are all necessary, but we submit that their functions and constitutional importance pale in comparison to the judiciary. Where are the Government's priorities, we ask?
We suggest that the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice take an urgent look at this situation. The Government has to decide that a key entity providing such a vital service cannot be allowed to wither and die. If the current owners do not have the wherewithal to resuscitate the business and maintain standards, then Government should step in and perhaps find suitable partners with the capital resources and requisite managerial savvy to make it viable.
And if that fails then the Government should apply the same type of considerations which were given to the sugar industry a vital industry that was divested and failed. Government quickly injected the necessary capital to keep the industry alive.
Our democracy is seriously short-changed when the administration of justice is treated with such scant regard. The Government should see this as an urgent matter.
THE OPINIONS ON THIS PAGE, EXCEPT FOR THE ABOVE, DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF THE GLEANER.
