PAJ wants law prohibiting public access to Gun Court repealed

The Press Association of Jamaica (PAJ) is calling for the Gun Court Act to be changed to allow the public and the media to have access to view cases.

The PAJ is contending that the barring of persons from the Jolyan Silvera murder case is a bad move by the judge when viewed against the background of the Constitution.

Section 13 (1) of the Gun Court Act allows the court to restrict access to proceedings.

Matters before the Gun Court are usually held in-camera.

But, the association is of the view that the starting point or “default position” of exclusion in the Gun Court Act can no longer be justified under the Jamaican Constitution, particularly given the guaranteed rights of due process and freedom of expression, which includes freedom of the press.

“The PAJ therefore calls for the repeal of Section 13 of the Gun Court Act and its replacement with a provision in which the 'default position' is public proceedings. Exclusion from court for legitimate reasons should be the exception and not the norm,” argued the association.

“Over the years, the justice system has found ways to protect vulnerable witnesses in high-profile murder cases involving the gun without excluding the media and the public, such as remote testimony via video call in the Uchence gang trial. 

"Constitutionally, therefore, there would be a high bar for excluding the media and the public from court, especially given the less restrictive but still effective measures for protecting witnesses already in use in Jamaican courts. As stated above, any such decision would have to be justified. Arbitrary invocations of a judge's discretion would certainly not qualify.”

The PAJ argued that transparency in justice is critical.

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