Church leader says time for Jamaica to move towards CCJ

Rasbert Turner, Gleaner Writer

Pastor of the Phillippo Baptist Church in St Catherine, the Reverend Jeffrey McKenzie, said it is time for Jamaica to move away from the Privy Council and established its own final court.

"It is almost 50 years that we have received Independence from England, yet still there are so much of its customs around, " McKenzie said.

He was speaking at the the national service of thanksgiving to launch Restorative Justice Week at his church in Spanish Town, St Catherine.

"We are not even welcome at the Caribbean Court of Justice, therefore, we must get our own final court and drop even the Privy Council. We need to be truly independent," he added.

Phillippo Baptist Church was founded 1818, and it figures prominently on Jamaica's history.

The church is named in honour of its first minister and founder, Reverend James Phillippo, a Baptist missionary who campaigned for the abolition of slavery.

Rev McKenzie argued that breaking away from the monarch would be a positive step in the country's independence and the dispensation of justice.

In the meantime, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Paula Llewellyn, refused to offer an opinion as to whether Jamaica should go the route of the CCJ.

"As a public servant I am in no position to change the law. However, the law as is, will be obeyed. It is an executive decision that will have to change that," Llewellyn said in an interview with The Gleaner.

Governor General Sir Patrick Allen, Chief Justice Zalia McCalla, Central St Catherine Member of Parliament Olivia Grange, Mayor of Spanish Town Owen Palmer, Custos Sophia Azan and Minister of Justice Mark Golding were among those in attendance.

It was the consensus that restorative justice is the ideal message to make Jamaica realise its true potential.

Restorative justice is an approach to justice that focuses on the needs of victims, offenders, as well as the involved community, instead of satisfying legal principles or punishing the offender.

Victims take an active role in the process, while offenders are encouraged to take responsibility for their actions.