VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHKG #1706/01 3301905
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 261905Z NOV 07
FM AMEMBASSY KINGSTON
TO SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5647

UNCLAS KINGSTON 001706 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR INL/LP NBozzolo, KBrown, WHA/CAR JTilghman 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SNAR ASEC PREL PGOV JM
SUBJECT: Jamaica: Ambassador meets with Minister of Justice 
 
REF: KINGSTON 1470 
 
¶1. Summary: On November 21, Ambassador Johnson, the 
Deputy Chief of Mission and NAS Director held their first meeting with 
Jamaica's new Minister of Justice, Dorothy Lightbourne.  Also in 
attendance was Carole Palmer, the Ministry's Permanent Secretary. 
 The Minister, who comes from the private bar (Note:  full bio 
information is available in Reftel), outlined her key priorities: 
Justice Sector Reform, a greater focus on Human Rights through 
creation of an independent authority to investigate police abuse, 
appointment of an Anti-Corruption Special Prosecutor, and 
clearing the backlog of criminal and civil cases.  The Minister 
demurred on providing any additional information regarding the 
uproar over the appointment of a new Solicitor General, but was 
clear that she would continue to support international extraditions, 
as long as the proper procedures were followed.  End Summary. 
 
Cabinet Approval for Special Prosecutor 
 
¶2. (SBU) Minister Lightbourne came directly to the meeting from 
Cabinet, where approval was granted to draft and present legislation 
to create an Anti-Corruption Special Prosecutor.  It is her goal to 
see the draft presented to Parliament before the end of the year. 
To accomplish this, she has hired back a recently retired 
legislative expert.  The Minister speculated that the draft 
legislation would be ready for review before mid-December. 
Previously, the Director of the Office of Public Prosecutions, a 
constitutional body, had raised objections to the appointment of any 
special prosecutors, whose power would fall outside his purview. 
The Minister seems to have reached an accommodation with him, 
stating that under the legislation, the Director of Prosecutions 
would remain chief prosecutor and would retain his constitutional 
authority to step in and take over any prosecution.  However, they 
had all agreed that the special prosecutor would remain as 
independent as possible. 
 
Independent Authority to Investigate Police Killings 
 
¶3.  (SBU) During the same cabinet meeting, approval was granted to 
draft legislation to create an independent review board to 
investigate fatal police shootings of civilians and other violent 
incidents by the police against civilians.  Minister Lightbourne 
indicated that there has already been some back and forth between 
her office and the police force regarding securing crime scenes and 
control of investigations.  Minister Lightbourne remains confident 
that they will be able to overcome these concerns during the 
legislative formation. 
 
Background on Police Shootings 
 
¶4. (SBU) As of November 4, crime statistics show that the police 
have been involved in 209 fatal shootings, and 865 non-fatal 
confrontations between police and civilians that involved gunfire. 
The current Bureau of Special Investigation, a segment of the 
Professional Standards Branch of the Jamaica Constabulary Force, has 
proven incapable of handling the onslaught of cases, which include 
fatal as well as non-fatal shootings, and other complaints regarding 
non-violent unprofessional conduct by police officers against 
civilians.  The Bureau is admittedly understaffed, but according to 
Minister Lightbourne, due to the "wall of silence" that exists 
within the Force, it is almost impossible for the police to 
effectively investigate themselves. 
 
Justice Sector Reform 
 
¶5. (SBU) The Minister is keen to advance the Justice Sector Reform 
Project, which published its final recommendations in June 2007. The 
report, which runs some 329 pages, was a seven-month collaboration 
between the Jamaican judicial establishment, judges, public and 
private bar, civil society, and the Canadian Bar Association.  The 
report outlines numerous reforms that are necessary for Jamaica to 
modernize a creaking court and penal system that has inadequate and 
unsecured court house space, and a staggering backlog of cases. 
 
¶6. (SBU) For example the Resident's Magistrate and outstation 
(rural) courthouses are reported to have a backlog of more than 
200,000 cases, and even serious criminal offenses are often 
routinely continued for years before coming to trial. The Minister 
is keen to explore Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), pre-trial 
conferencing, and even the special appointment of temporary 
magistrates to clear the clogged dockets.  She has met with 
resistance from the Jamaican Judiciary, particularly to the notion 
of temporary judges, but plans to keep pushing.  Minister 
Lightbourne asked for more information on U.S. ADR programs.  In 
particular she is keen to receive information on minimum training 
standards for Mediators and recommendations on how to fund 
court-ordered mediation for indigent individuals. 
 
International Extradition 
 
¶7. (SBU) The Ambassador asked the Minister to outline her philosophy 
regarding international extradition.  Since her appointment, the 
pace of pending extradition orders has slowed.  The Minister 
explained that she is not opposed to carrying out the obligations 
under our treaties that govern extradition, but cautioned that she 
does read the entire file and will not sign off on cases where 
either the proper procedures have not been followed, or there are 
errors in the documentation.  Minister Lightbourne raised one 
pending U.S. case as an example, where the instruction sheet and 
provisional arrest warrant contain two different dates.  Post 
continues to follow up with the U.S. Department of Justice to 
clarify the error for Minister Lightbourne. 
 
Solicitor General Nomination 
 
 
¶8.  (SBU) When asked about the controversy surrounding the 
appointment of the new Solicitor General, Minister Lightbourne 
politely refused to answer.  The Ambassador expressed her hope that 
a new Solicitor General would be appointed as soon as possible 
following international democratic and transparent norms. 
 
Background on the Controversy 
 
¶9. (SBU) On November 16, the Prime Minister met with the members of 
the Public Service Commission (PSC) to discuss its recommendation to 
the Governor General that Stephen Vasciannie be named as the new 
Solicitor General.   Earlier that same week, the Minister of Justice 
had publicly expressed her concerns about the nomination, calling 
Vasciannie's too much of an academic to be Solicitor General. 
Subsequent to that meeting, Golding asked the Governor General to 
dissolve the PSC for misconduct and to re-advertise the position of 
Solicitor General.   No similar controversy has ever occurred around 
the appointment of Solicitor General.  Normally a new Solicitor 
General is named before the old one leaves office, so the current 
situation of having the Deputy Solicitor General acting as Solicitor 
General is also unprecedented. 
 
Role of Solicitor General 
 
 
¶10. (SBU) The Solicitor General is the administrative head of the 
Attorney General's Chambers, which are located in the Ministry of 
Justice.  The Minister is the Attorney General.  Unlike the Attorney 
General, he is not a political appointee. He is a civil servant 
appointed by the Governor General on the advice of the Public 
Services Commission.  In addition to his administrative 
responsibilities, the Solicitor General represents the Government in 
complex litigation (usually before the Judicial Committee of the 
Privy Council) and in certain commercial negotiations, including 
negotiations with international lending agencies.  He is also a 
member of Jamaica's delegations to the United Nations General 
Assembly and to other foreign bodies. 
 
Heg