It may not be possible, or practical, to establish a special public-law division of Jamaica’s Supreme Court at this time. Given the court’s current workload and the continuing backlog of cases, we are likely to be told that there are simply too few judges for that to happen.
If that is indeed the case, Chief Justice Bryan Sykes should consider asking the government to increase the number of judges to meet the needs of all areas of the judicial system. In the meantime, the chief justice should mandate that all judicial review cases, particularly those dealing with allegations of corruption — whether at the stage of the initial application or the substantive claim — be treated with urgency.
The speed with which Justice Tara Carr last month heard and dismissed the Firearms Licensing Authority’s (FLA’s) application against the Integrity Commission’s (IC’s) handling of an investigation into the authority, and the information to which the FLA was entitled before the report was tabled in Parliament, is indicative of what should become the court’s benchmark. That matter was disposed of in fewer than three months. Happily, the FLA did not appeal.
The IC is the anti-corruption agency to which parliamentarians, public servants earning more than J$12 million annually, and other specified officials must submit annual income, asset and liability declarations, to ensure that their wealth is consistent with their known and lawful sources of income.
On a separate-but-related matter, the IC should, as The Gleaner’s Editorial Board has previously suggested, collate and present, in a special report to Parliament, all recommendations contained in the investigative reports it has completed since its establishment in 2017. These should include recommendations for operational changes in government ministries, departments and agencies, criminal charges, or sanctions against public officials. Investigations inherited from predecessor entities, including the Office of the Contractor General, should also be included.
Questions about the speed with which the courts hear and dispose of corruption-related judicial review applications have gained renewed relevance because of recent comments by the IC’s chairman, retired Judge Carol Lawrence-Beswick. She suggested that public officials under investigation by her agency appeared intent on using the judicial system to frustrate the IC’s work.
In the commission’s annual report to Parliament last week, covering her first full year as chairman, Justice Lawrence-Beswick noted a raft of legal actions in 2025-26 against the organisation and members of its leadership team.
“The commission respects the constitutional right of every individual to approach the courts and is committed to honouring all judicial processes and determinations,” she wrote. “Nonetheless, it is important to recognise the implications of this emerging trend. There is a legitimate concern that the increasing resort to litigation against the commission and its officers in the execution of their lawful duties may, whether intentionally or otherwise, impede the timely discharge of the commission’s responsibilities.”
While acknowledging the courts’ role in safeguarding the rule of law and ensuring that public bodies operate within their legal authority, Justice Lawrence-Beswick also argued that it was equally important that the IC not be “frustrated, delayed, or undermined by actions designed solely to discourage robust investigations or to inhibit the commission from carrying out the responsibilities entrusted to it”.
“The commission will continue to pursue its mandate fairly, independently and without fear or favour, guided at all times by the law, the principles of justice, and an unwavering commitment to integrity, transparency and accountability in public life,” she said.
In May, Justice Lawrence-Beswick issued a similar warning during an address to a conference of Caribbean anti-corruption officials in Kingston. She cautioned that, even if the flurry of litigation were “to stymie our efforts … we shall not be thwarted”.
In recent weeks, Minister without portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister with responsibility for Science, Technology and Special Projects, Andrew Wheatley, who the IC said it intended to charge with illicit enrichment, has gone to court seeking to overturn the findings of an investigation into his finances.
Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness has a similar judicial review case pending against the IC, although, in his case, the commission did not propose charges. Instead, it requested that the Financial Investigations Division, an agency of the Ministry of Finance, conduct further investigations into the prime minister’s wealth. Other agencies were also asked to consider taking action.
Beyond these high-profile matters, a number of ministries and agencies have gone to court either to prevent the IC from obtaining documents or to restrict its investigations.
As Justice Lawrence-Beswick noted, subjects of the commission’s investigations have a constitutional right to challenge actions they believe do not comply with the law. However, that should not mean that such cases lapse into a state of suspended animation or legal purgatory.
Corruption matters demand urgent attention, lest they become a cancerous affliction on society. Moreover, when they remain unresolved and public trust is eroded, the State’s capacity to act is diminished. That is why Chief Justice Sykes should insist that the judiciary moves expeditiously on these cases.
In part, the same principle underlies The Gleaner’s call for the IC to revisit and report on the recommendations contained in its previous investigative reports.
