There is a general consensus that as a nation we have handled our affairs badly since Independence, there is no denying that.
However there is no longer a viable argument to be made for staying under the Crown outside of whatever value the Island derive from having the UK Privy Council as it’s final court of appeals.
Jamaicans can’t hop on a plane and enter England like Puerto Ricans can the US.
Simply put there is really no upside for Jamaica keeping the British Monarch as a head of state outside the value of the Privy Council.
Sorry Governor General I really like you but you’ll be okay.
It is important that we recognize however that if Jamaica remove the Queen as head of state we have by default signed on to a Caribbean court of Justice as our highest court, or worse trusting our failed broken down system which has been a colossal flop.
Not a thought I relish in light of the record of the Island’s criminal Justice system.
If we decide to get rid of the queen maybe we should also get a new Constitution , why not?
The possibility of a Caribbean court of appeals, or worse the final court of appeals being in Jamaica should give Jamaicans much pause.
Set aside the chest thumping and the patriotic gobbledygook about our own abilities the record simply has not matched the darn rhetoric.
So lets quit the nonsense and face reality , we have made a mess of things.
There is more than enough evidence that the judicial process have failed the Jamaican people and have through it’s ineptness and liberal stance significantly added to the Island’s crime situation.
When citizens believe they will get no justice in the courts they exact their own brand of justice which is never justice but vengeance.
When an alleged goat thief gets hacked to death its not justice. Yes it may give future goat-thieves pause but it places the lives of all Jamaicans at risk . Merely passing through a community where you are not known makes you suspicious and a target for those would kill you just for the hell of it.
Given the failings of the Judicial process I am stunned that some people still believe in it’s fidelity. Though not the best entity to point this out , even the US Government has pointed to the Jamaican justice system and it’s myriad problems, which the very Jamaican government agrees with.
That ought to be a dis-qualifier as it pertains to giving it more responsibility.
The average man on the street does not believe the Justice system works in his interest, no one is immune. The police which is the most visible part of the justice system gets all the blame when the police is probably least to blame for the woes of the system.
The Judges are probably the least conspicuous of all the players in the process but they arguably have the most impact.
They are less visible but the criminals they turn loose on technicality and with slaps on the wrist aren’t.
People have no confidence that the system will protect them when murderers are summarily returned to the streets time and time after being charged with homicides.
There is no reason for people to jeopardize their lives by cooperating with a system which bends over backwards to appease criminals at their expense.
Only in Jamaica are accused murderers granted bail to go out and kill over and over and over again.
To hell with the argument that the bail act is not supposed to be punitive. If someone is arrested for a murder a judge can gloss over the evidence and see whether the charge has merit before considering bail, if at all.
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Most of the leading Caribbean Islands are not a part of the CCJ. The new administration should think this through thoroughly, . Bustamante worked hard to pull Jamaica from the West Indian Federation supported by the PNP , soon after the West Indian Federation collapsed.
On Bustamante’s vision Jamaica’s sovereignty and Independence was born.
It would be ironic if the labor party now become the party which guide Jamaica into a CCJ alliance .
Getting rid of the Monarchy also means getting rid of the UK Privy Council as well.