Justice Minister Delroy Chuck says Cabinet has approved an increase in the stipend for jurors.

Each juror who is called to any Circuit Court will be paid J$2000 for each day they is called to the court, while empanelled jurors will receive J$6000 for each day at court.

Chuck, who made his contribution to the 2024-2025 Sectoral Debate on Tuesday (May 21), explained that the move is a 200 per cent increase in stipends for jurors.

“Madam Speaker, this is necessary because a lot of jurors, especially in the rural areas, have to take taxis from the hills down to the town. They spend money to get there yes, [and] sometimes they are not empanelled so we think it is appropriate that once they are served with a summons to come to court and their name is called and they are there, they can be reimbursed $2000. If you serve for the day, you get $6000 and I think very shortly Madam Speaker, we will come with the regulation changes and shortly it will be executed,” Chuck said.

There have been concerns raised about a shortage of jurors to serve the Circuit Courts, resulting in a delay in criminal cases being brought before a judge for trial and concluded.

However, Chuck says there have been major improvements in the delivery of judgments, alleviating litigants’ concerns about delayed justice.

“There have been major improvements in the delivery of judgments right across the board. Most judgements are now delivered within six months and that is something that we can feel proud of,” he said.

Judgement debt

On the matter of judgement debt, Chuck says the Government has earmarked JM$680 million to settle claims during the financial year.

He said the government has paid some J$5.8 billion in judgement debt to complete claims dating back some eight years.