Supreme Court blocks Portmore parish law from taking effect

The Supreme Court has granted an injunction blocking the Portmore parish law from taking effect. Chief Justice Bryan Sykes granted the orders on Thursday.

The Opposition People's National Party claims the law is unconstitutional. The injunction will run until March 28 when the parties return to court.

The two orders granted by the court:

1. An order prohibiting the second respondent or any minister in the Government of Jamaica, until further order of the court, from appointing a day for the coming into operation of the Counties and Parishes (Amendment) Act 2025

2. Alternatively, in the event that such a day shall have been appointed before an order is made, an order that until further order of the court, the 2025 Act is to be treated by all persons and for all purposes as not being in operation.

The lawsuit was filed in the Constitutional Court on Monday.

The claimants are St Catherine Southern Member of Parliament Fitz Jackson, Portmore Mayor Leon Thomas, and councillors Claude Hamilton and Vanrick Preddie.

Attorney General Dr Derrick McKoy and Local Government Minister Desmond McKenzie are named as defendants.

Deputy Solicitor General Lisa White represented both defendants in court.

They claim it disrupts local governance, constituency boundaries, and democratic rights.

Jackson contends the law contravenes the Constitution by altering electoral boundaries, a concern also raised by the Electoral Commission of Jamaica (ECJ).

In February, ahead of the Senate debate and approval, the ECJ warned Parliament that the proposed parish boundary "may negatively affect" a constitutional provision prohibiting constituencies from crossing parish lines.

The concern was also raised with McKenzie's ministry in June 2024.

"The commission sent a letter regarding the Portmore parish boundary. The commission has not received a response," a spokesperson told The Gleaner on February 28.

ECJ chairman Earl Jarrett, in the letter to McKenzie's ministry, advised Permanent Secretary Marsha Henry-Martin that the proposed boundary for the parish of Portmore "will impact four constituencies, 13 electoral divisions, and 398 polling divisions from the parish of St Catherine."

The Constitution says, "The boundary of a constituency shall not cross the boundary of a parish as delimited by the Counties and Parishes Act or by any law amending or replacing that law."

The issue has been bitterly divisive, with the ruling Jamaica Labour Party insisting that the move reflects the wishes of residents in the city municipality.

However, the PNP has argued that the process is problematic and amounts to alleged "political gerrymandering" to secure political benefits for the JLP.

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