Night municipal court for Montego Bay

Claudia Gardner, Assignment Coordinator

WESTERN BUREAU:Secretary-Manager of the St James Parish Council Gerald Lee has indicated that the municipal authority could soon be staging night court sessions in the Montego Bay Resident Magistrate's Court.

He made the revelations during the regular monthly meeting of the council last Thursday after Councillor of the Flanker Division, Charles Sinclair, suggested that staging night court sessions in the Resident Magistrate's Court would be ideal for addressing municipal matters.

"The chief justice has replied, saying that she is aware that consideration is being given by the relevant authorities to the establishment of the municipal court, and she has also said she has had discussions on the matter with the resident magistrate with a view to implementing the procedure suggested, pending the formal establishment of the municipal court. The procedure suggested is that some days be set aside to address municipal matters at night," Lee said.

level of seriousness

At last month's sitting of the council, Mayor of Montego Bay Glendon Harris said that municipal matters were not being treated by the courts with the level of seriousness which they deserved.

At the time, he said the parish council and the Island Special Constabulary Force (ISCF) were "frustrated over the years by the way the courts have been treating municipal matters".

He said in the past, when the ISCF had responsibility for environmental matters, the police officers assigned to that organisation were relentless in prosecuting persons who were in breach of the law but that they later lost confidence in carrying out their duties in enforcing municipal and environmental matters.