THE MINISTRY of Justice has embarked on a field study of the jury system in an effort to improve the administration and delivery of justice in Jamaica.

As part of its efforts, the ministry is seeking the public's cooperation as it gathers information for the study.

The study of the jury system is in keeping with recommendations made by the Jamaica Justice System Review, which was conducted in 2007.

Senator Dorothy Lightbourne, minister of justice and attorney general, said there was a relationship between the availability of jurors and the backlog of cases.

Practical benefits

She noted that the study would examine the elimination of exempted categories and assess the willingness/unwillingness of members of exempted categories to serve jury duty.

The study will also review the practical benefits and potential challenges in the use of an automated jury-management system.

In the past, the justice ministry relied solely on the voters' list as the source for constituting a pool of jurors. However, Lightbourne piloted a bill in the Senate last year to amend the Jury Act. The amendment widened the pool from which jurors are selected to include the list of persons with taxpayer registration numbers. Addi-tionally, the age limit for jurors increased to 70 years.

Exploring jury process

The ministry is currently conducting fieldwork in the assessment of the jury system in the island and holds the position that the jury process needs to be explored "if we are to improve the administration and delivery of justice in Jamaica".

Included in the six crime bills which are currently before Parliament is legislation which will provide for majority verdicts in cases of non-capital murder.

Researchers from the ministry will be conducting interviews islandwide throughout this month and in October.