Over 5,000 Jamaicans accessed legal aid last financial year

More than 5,000 Jamaicans received legal support from the Legal Aid Council (LAC) during the 2024-2025 fiscal year, as the agency pushes to expand access to justice for vulnerable groups, including inmates with mental illnesses.

“Over 2,000 persons were assigned Duty Counsel. More than 3,000 were assigned lawyers to represent them in the criminal courts across the island and we conducted virtual and face-to-face consultations with several more persons,” said Dian Watson, executive director of the LAC.

A Duty Counsel is an attorney who represents individuals at police stations or lockups, ensuring immediate legal guidance during the early stages of detention.

The 2024-2025 financial year ended on March 31.

Currently, approximately 900 lawyers are empanelled at the LAC. However, the council is actively seeking to grow that number to better serve all 14 parishes.

“We're always imploring lawyers to sign up with us. They just need to get in touch with us and complete an application form, submit their certification and their banking details. And we have an orientation exercise and then, you know, they're duly empanelled,” Watson said.

“So, we encourage the attorneys to come in. We do want to have different lists, listing their various expertise, so we want more and more attorneys to join us,” she added.

A key priority for the 2024/25 period was supporting persons with mental illnesses who are caught in the criminal justice system.

"49 [persons with mental illness] were assigned empanelled attorneys, while the council monitored another 128 to ensure that there's a coordinated system to track the progress of their matters, and by so doing, uphold their rights,” Watson said.

She highlighted a recent case reviewed in the Supreme Court where, with assistance from the Office of the Public Defender, two mentally ill inmates were successfully released.

“One is a real success story because in that case, the defendant, he was able to be reunited with his children, and he met his grandchildren for the first time, and the family, they were truly happy and grateful for that experience,” she shared.

Watson emphasised the importance of protecting the rights of mentally ill persons in custody, noting that some individuals had previously been left in the system without having their cases returned to court.

“We have been following up, working with the Department of Correctional Services to ensure that these persons are brought before the court within a reasonable time. If they didn't have a court date, we have the matters relisted so their matters can be reviewed periodically,” she said.

Looking ahead to the 2025/26 fiscal year, the Council will roll out training programmes for empanelled lawyers representing mentally ill clients.

“We will be commencing very soon with an in-person lecture, and this will be followed up with several lectures on Zoom. We want to be discussing, with the attorneys, mental health services, the role of the psychiatrist, and principles of therapeutic jurisprudence,” Watson said.

-JIS News

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