‘You are the fountain of justice’, attorney tells lay magistrates at Old Harbour ceremony

At a most opportune and relevant moment, Mr Shaw used the historic event to remind justices of the peace of their important role in society. 

During a ceremony in which he gave the charge to 23 newly certified lay magistrates, the noted attorney-at-law, said the October 11, 1865 event that led to the uprising, spearheaded by National Hero Paul Bogle, is a stark reminder that the dispensing of justice must be fair at all times.

“As magistrates you are the fountain of justice, you are the cornerstone of our democracy because justice is the foundation of our society and you will be dispensing justice when you constitute the Lay Magistrate Court,” he said today inside The Ecclesia Family Ministry, also the home of the Lions Club Civic Centre in Old Harbour.

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Some 30 JPs succesfully participated in this specialized Lay Magistrate training course, qualifying them to adjudicate matters in what was previously known as the Petty Session Court.

It was in the Petty Session Court in 1865 that a magistrate made the grave error in judgment that even today remains a pivotal moment in Jamaica's struggle for rights and justice.

“You are called upon to ensure that you act and serve your people in a fair way,” Shaw, himself a justice of the peace, said before adding “every time you sit on that bench the question that should cause you to be pondered ‘am I being fair?’ As part of the judiciary now, it’s all about fairness.”

Lay Magistrate Court handles minor criminal offenses, civil matters, and traffic violations and is typically less formal than higher courts. It is designed to provide quicker resolutions for less serious cases presided over by a lay magistrate. The procedures are generally more straightforward, and defendants often represent themselves. However, decisions can be appealed to higher courts if either party is dissatisfied with the ruling.

Meantime, the ceremony also saw two persons being belated commissioned to serve as justice of the peace in the parish. Jenelle Harrison and Rohan Loney were unavoidably absent at the last commissioning ceremony in September, and therefore could not begin to serve the parish until now, stated Custos of St Catherine Icylin Golding.