Jamaica Courts: Chief Justice plans to implement time standards for courts
Chief Justice Brian Sykes has said he will be engaging a time standard model in the courts as a means of measuring the delivery of service.
He made the disclosure Thursday morning after being sworn in at King’s House.
Justice Sykes said a time standard document produced at the National Centre for State Courts in the United States will be taken on board in a more meaningful way to improve the scheduling of matters before Jamaica’s courts.
In explaining the usefulness of these time standards, Justice Sykes noted that they assist the courts “to improve timeliness of case disposition and improve the court’s services to litigants.” In addition, he said time standards “permit lawyers to say to clients how long a case should last from filing to judgment” and they “help members of the public to define what can be expected of their courts.”
Justice Sykes has given his commitment to boosting operations at the island’s courts, asserting that he would do so by “improving the very outcomes, having higher standards of justice (and) having more timely dispositions even within the context of limited resources.”
Photo: Governor General Sir Patrick Allen looks on as Bryan Sykes is sworn in as Chief Justice on Thursday. JIS photo