Legal Reform Unit to dedicate half its staff to reviewing outdated laws
Published:Wednesday | May 3, 2017 | 12:53 PM
The Legal Reform Unit of the Ministry of Justice is pledging to deploy nearly 50 per cent of its human resources to carry out a comprehensive review of Jamaica’s laws, including those dating back to the 19th century.
Director of Legal Reform in the Ministry of Justice, Maurice Bailey told journalists at a post Sectoral Debate press conference at the ministry’s Constant Spring Road offices that regulations would form part of the review.
He says the Justice Ministry will be writing to all other ministries to get their help in providing all regulations and laws under their portfolio.
Bailey says this will allow his Unit to prepare an inventory of the statutes and monetary penalties for submission to Cabinet.
Bailey also sought to dispel notions that no work had been done on laws with fines that are out of step with reality.
He says the Legal Reform Unit in the Justice Ministry has updated a number of statutes over time.
Justice Minister Delroy Chuck put his colleague lawmakers on notice yesterday that the Parliament will soon have to have three sittings per week to update the laws of Jamaica.