In the wake of last week's death threat against a Corporate Area Parish Court judge, Justice Minister Delroy Chuck has disclosed plans to mount closed-circuit television cameras (CCTV) at courts across the island to heighten security.
“...What I am looking at also, and it will come about soon, is to put cameras, not only within the courts and the inside offices, but also the outside so that Jamaica Eye or someone in the court system, anyone can look and see exactly what is happening," Chuck told journalists following his address at a Caseflow Management training seminar for High Court Judges held at the Melia Braco Hotel in Trelawny on Sunday morning.
"And that could be an additional security feature to ensure adequate security in all the court complexes across the island," the justice minister added.
Meanwhile, Chuck who pointed out that judges are assigned certified protection officers, also argued that submission to Cabinet to have district constables posted at court houses has been unsuccessful due mainly to an International Monetary Fund (IMF) agreement to reduce the country's public sector wage bill to nine per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
"We had put in a submission to cabinet to have District Constabulary (DC) manning the court complex. That did not gain much success recently so that the police officers are the one manning the court system,” Chuck said.
