Attending Court in Jamaica

Attending Court in Jamaica

Dress appropriately! No shorts, t-shirts, no sleeveless, avoid wearing t-shirts bearing obscene graphics, no flip flops, no caps. Rastafarians and other religious groups that cover their heads as a part of their religious rites are allowed to wear their head dress. Unless you are wearing a bush jacket men are required to tuck their shirts into their waistbands. No setters. No breasts and brassieres exposed. No boxer shorts exposed.

Depending on the judge men with pierced ears might be required to remove them before addressing the court.

Answer the judge respectfully. Despite the popular belief of many a Jamaican, referring to females you have no relation with by terms of endearment such as "baby, mummy, auntie, sweetheart, darling, honey" is impolite. Never ever refer to a female judge or Clerk of the Court as such. In like manner you do not refer to a male judge as "breddrin, father, my youth." "Yu see me?" is also inappropriate.

The Clerk is to be addressed as "Madam Clerk" or "Miss So and So".

The judge is referred to as your Honour if the judge is a Judge of the Parish Court and My Lord or My Lady if the judge is a Judge of the Supreme Court.

There is to be no chewing of gum or eating in court.

Turn your cellphone off before entering the court room.

Do not speak out of turn. Allow the person who is speaking to complete their statements before interjecting.

NEVER ever interrupt a judge when he or she is speaking.

Sucking ones teeth publicly is still considered bad manners.

Comments

Hilaire SobersJanuary 23, 2008 at 9:05 PM
You mean to say in this day and age, there are judges who ask men to remove their earrings? How utterly ridiculous!!

Hilaire
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Hilaire SobersJanuary 23, 2008 at 9:22 PM
On other thing, I think part of the problem of lack of information on the part of Jamaicans is that courts rarely if ever have any signs posted indicating or explaining court protocol. I remember testifying in a California Superior Court (as expert witness) in 1999, and I do recall seeing signs/information posted in simple language. This was certainly helpful for me, despite being a lawyer. Certainly there are rudimentary elements of court protocol that are common to courts regardless of jurisdiction, but as a non-US lawyer, the info was useful.

I think the time has come for courts to reinvent themselves - from being judge/official centred to people-centred. The current paradigm contributes significantly
to people being not only uninformed, but alienated from court proceedings. Certainly, having signs that explain court protocol would be a step in the right direction. Insisting that police on duty at courts treat people with respect and not shout at them or demean them would be another.

Hilaire
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