Jamaica legal information portal coming
Published:Wednesday | June 8, 2022 | 10:45 AM
The Ministry of Legal and Constitutional Affairs is taking steps to reduce the extensive time and effort expended to identify gazette notices and laws, by introducing a comprehensive Jamaica Legal Information Portal.
Portfolio Minister, Marlene Malahoo Forte, said the Ministry has forged a Memorandum of Understanding with Jamaica Promotions Corporation (JAMPRO) for the project, which is expected to begin in 2023.
She said funding will be provided by the World Bank Group under Component 1 of the Foundations for Competitiveness and Growth Project.
Malahoo Forte was making her contribution to the 2022/23 Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives on Tuesday.
“The Ministry intends to use the web portal to engage on law reform issues. This engagement will serve to inform both the public and the Ministry about issues of concern that are to be considered in the development of law reform proposals,” she said.
Among the publications that the portal will provide public access to are the Revised Laws of Jamaica (all editions from the 19th century to present); the annual Acts of Jamaica (17th century to the present); the Jamaica Gazette Publications, Proclamation Rules and Regulations; and Bills and Acts and the Gazette Extraordinary.
The portal will also include common law-making judgments of the courts.
Malahoo Forte said material is currently being scanned and prepared for uploading to the website, once it is developed.
She told the House that the JLIP's creation complements broader efforts to modernise Jamaica's justice sector institutions and processes and supports the Government's economic objectives to improve the country's business environment and competitiveness.
“Improvements in the availability of legal information should, therefore, be assessed as complementary to, and part and parcel of, the broader framework of Jamaica's economic growth agenda,” Malahoo Forte said.
- JIS News
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