Bartlett to lobby for return of Adelphi courthouse

WESTERN BUREAU:

St James East Central Member of Parliament Edmund Bartlett says he wants to see the wheel of justice start turning in his constituency, and against that background, he will be lobbying for an outstation of the St James Parish Court to be re-established at the recently rehabilitated Adelphi Police Station.

In a previous dispensation, an outstation of the parish court operated from the upstairs of the police station, but was forced to close down because it had fallen into a serious state of disrepair.

The re-establishment of the outstation of the parish court will mean that residents of that section of the parish will no longer have to face the additional expenses of travelling to Montego Bay to have their court matters heard on the fourth Thursday of each month.

“We have refurbished the police station and I’m going to talk with the minister of justice [Delroy Chuck] because the [Adelphi] courthouse was here,” Bartlett told The Gleaner following last Friday’s official handover of the newly renovated police station, which was rehabilitated at a cost of $47.3 million.

“We now have to go all the way to Montego Bay for justice,” quipped Bartlett. “We want to bring back justice to Adelphi so that we will have police security and justice in Adelphi.”

According to the senior parliamentarian, who is also the minister of tourism, the development of Adelphi has been front and centre in the master plan for his constituency.

“Adelphi is foremost in our minds. We have been talking about this development for a while. We have looked at what kind of structures and arrangements are necessary to create the community into the township and to restore the glory of its former years,” said Bartlett.

Michael Hemmings, the new president of the Cornwall Bar Association, is fully supportive of the reopening of the Adelphi courthouse, saying it would come as an advantage to the residents.

“Essentially, the St James Parish Court is hearing matters that ought to be heard at the outstation. This is an added burden to the already overpopulated list. However, from the cost factor, litigants would not have to travel to Montego Bay to have their matters heard, saving costs incurred in transportation,” said Hemmings.

However, Hemmings also noted that attorneys would now be required to travel to the outstation, which is some distance away, which may result in a shift of fees to litigants to cover travel expenses.

While he has not yet seen the renovated police station to get a clear understanding of how it would facilitate court hearings, Hemmings believes that if the court returns there, it will aid in the reduction of cases in the main parish court.

“This would require a judge to travel from Montego Bay on a date agreed to treat the matters,” said Hemmings. “Consideration should be given to having daily sittings similar to that which currently exist elsewhere in the parish.

“This [Adelphi] outstation, I would suggest, can operate like the Cambridge outstation which presently sits with an assigned judge daily. This facilitates speedy completion of the matters,” added Hemmings, who thinks that the addition of technology would be am important asset.

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