Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07KINGSTON1706
2007-11-26 19:05:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Kingston
Cable title:  

Jamaica: Ambassador meets with Minister of Justice

Tags:  SNAR ASEC PREL PGOV JM 
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VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHKG #1706/01 3301905
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 261905Z NOV 07
FM AMEMBASSY KINGSTON
TO SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5647
UNCLAS KINGSTON 001706 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

STATE FOR INL/LP NBozzolo, KBrown, WHA/CAR JTilghman

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: SNAR ASEC PREL PGOV JM
SUBJECT: Jamaica: Ambassador meets with Minister of Justice

REF: KINGSTON 1470

UNCLAS KINGSTON 001706

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

STATE FOR INL/LP NBozzolo, KBrown, WHA/CAR JTilghman

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: SNAR ASEC PREL PGOV JM
SUBJECT: Jamaica: Ambassador meets with Minister of Justice

REF: KINGSTON 1470


1. Summary: On November 21, Ambassador Johnson, the
Deputy Chief of Mission and NAS Director held their first meeting with
Jamaica's new Minister of Justice, Dorothy Lightbourne. Also in
attendance was Carole Palmer, the Ministry's Permanent Secretary.
The Minister, who comes from the private bar (Note: full bio
information is available in Reftel),outlined her key priorities:
Justice Sector Reform, a greater focus on Human Rights through
creation of an independent authority to investigate police abuse,
appointment of an Anti-Corruption Special Prosecutor, and
clearing the backlog of criminal and civil cases. The Minister
demurred on providing any additional information regarding the
uproar over the appointment of a new Solicitor General, but was
clear that she would continue to support international extraditions,
as long as the proper procedures were followed. End Summary.

Cabinet Approval for Special Prosecutor


2. (SBU) Minister Lightbourne came directly to the meeting from
Cabinet, where approval was granted to draft and present legislation
to create an Anti-Corruption Special Prosecutor. It is her goal to
see the draft presented to Parliament before the end of the year.
To accomplish this, she has hired back a recently retired
legislative expert. The Minister speculated that the draft
legislation would be ready for review before mid-December.
Previously, the Director of the Office of Public Prosecutions, a
constitutional body, had raised objections to the appointment of any
special prosecutors, whose power would fall outside his purview.
The Minister seems to have reached an accommodation with him,
stating that under the legislation, the Director of Prosecutions
would remain chief prosecutor and would retain his constitutional
authority to step in and take over any prosecution. However, they
had all agreed that the special prosecutor would remain as
independent as possible.

Independent Authority to Investigate Police Killings


3. (SBU) During the same cabinet meeting, approval was granted to
draft legislation to create an independent review board to
investigate fatal police shootings of civilians and other violent

incidents by the police against civilians. Minister Lightbourne
indicated that there has already been some back and forth between
her office and the police force regarding securing crime scenes and
control of investigations. Minister Lightbourne remains confident
that they will be able to overcome these concerns during the
legislative formation.

Background on Police Shootings


4. (SBU) As of November 4, crime statistics show that the police
have been involved in 209 fatal shootings, and 865 non-fatal
confrontations between police and civilians that involved gunfire.
The current Bureau of Special Investigation, a segment of the
Professional Standards Branch of the Jamaica Constabulary Force, has
proven incapable of handling the onslaught of cases, which include
fatal as well as non-fatal shootings, and other complaints regarding
non-violent unprofessional conduct by police officers against
civilians. The Bureau is admittedly understaffed, but according to
Minister Lightbourne, due to the "wall of silence" that exists
within the Force, it is almost impossible for the police to
effectively investigate themselves.

Justice Sector Reform


5. (SBU) The Minister is keen to advance the Justice Sector Reform
Project, which published its final recommendations in June 2007. The
report, which runs some 329 pages, was a seven-month collaboration
between the Jamaican judicial establishment, judges, public and
private bar, civil society, and the Canadian Bar Association. The
report outlines numerous reforms that are necessary for Jamaica to
modernize a creaking court and penal system that has inadequate and
unsecured court house space, and a staggering backlog of cases.


6. (SBU) For example the Resident's Magistrate and outstation
(rural) courthouses are reported to have a backlog of more than
200,000 cases, and even serious criminal offenses are often
routinely continued for years before coming to trial. The Minister
is keen to explore Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR),pre-trial
conferencing, and even the special appointment of temporary
magistrates to clear the clogged dockets. She has met with
resistance from the Jamaican Judiciary, particularly to the notion
of temporary judges, but plans to keep pushing. Minister
Lightbourne asked for more information on U.S. ADR programs. In
particular she is keen to receive information on minimum training
standards for Mediators and recommendations on how to fund
court-ordered mediation for indigent individuals.

International Extradition


7. (SBU) The Ambassador asked the Minister to outline her philosophy
regarding international extradition. Since her appointment, the
pace of pending extradition orders has slowed. The Minister
explained that she is not opposed to carrying out the obligations
under our treaties that govern extradition, but cautioned that she
does read the entire file and will not sign off on cases where
either the proper procedures have not been followed, or there are
errors in the documentation. Minister Lightbourne raised one
pending U.S. case as an example, where the instruction sheet and
provisional arrest warrant contain two different dates. Post
continues to follow up with the U.S. Department of Justice to
clarify the error for Minister Lightbourne.

Solicitor General Nomination



8. (SBU) When asked about the controversy surrounding the
appointment of the new Solicitor General, Minister Lightbourne
politely refused to answer. The Ambassador expressed her hope that
a new Solicitor General would be appointed as soon as possible
following international democratic and transparent norms.

Background on the Controversy


9. (SBU) On November 16, the Prime Minister met with the members of
the Public Service Commission (PSC) to discuss its recommendation to
the Governor General that Stephen Vasciannie be named as the new
Solicitor General. Earlier that same week, the Minister of Justice
had publicly expressed her concerns about the nomination, calling
Vasciannie's too much of an academic to be Solicitor General.
Subsequent to that meeting, Golding asked the Governor General to
dissolve the PSC for misconduct and to re-advertise the position of
Solicitor General. No similar controversy has ever occurred around
the appointment of Solicitor General. Normally a new Solicitor
General is named before the old one leaves office, so the current
situation of having the Deputy Solicitor General acting as Solicitor
General is also unprecedented.

Role of Solicitor General



10. (SBU) The Solicitor General is the administrative head of the
Attorney General's Chambers, which are located in the Ministry of
Justice. The Minister is the Attorney General. Unlike the Attorney
General, he is not a political appointee. He is a civil servant
appointed by the Governor General on the advice of the Public
Services Commission. In addition to his administrative
responsibilities, the Solicitor General represents the Government in
complex litigation (usually before the Judicial Committee of the
Privy Council) and in certain commercial negotiations, including
negotiations with international lending agencies. He is also a
member of Jamaica's delegations to the United Nations General
Assembly and to other foreign bodies.

Heg