Dionne Rose, Parliamentary Reporter
A Code of Conduct for the island's Justices of the Peace is to be enforced shortly, according to Justice Minister Senator A.J. Nicholson.
Senator Nicholson, who is also the Attorney-General, made the announcement during his contri-bution to the State of the Nation Debate in the Senate on Friday.
"The importance of maintaining the integrity of the office and a stream of allegations of misconduct on the part of some holders of the office pointed to the urgent necessity for a Code of Conduct," the Justice Minister said.
Senator Nicholson said that while guidelines have existed for the holders of the office of Justice of the Peace since 2001, the ministry has found it appropriate to produce a more detailed instrument that is consistent with that which obtains for the judiciary in certain Common-wealth jurisdictions.
He said the Code of Conduct will be presented to the Governor-General by the end of this month and will be further strengthened with laws that will be brought into force in a short time.
Meanwhile, Senator Nicholson said the Government would be making good on its promise to launch the Victim's Charter in March next year. He said a series of public consultations have been held islandwide with the final session to be held on Thursday to consolidate the input that has been received in the public sessions, as well as from written responses submitted during the period.
"All plans are on target to meet the deadline of March 31, 2007 for the launch of the Charter," he said.
The draft charter will deal with issues such as compensation for victims and the role of the state in the funding of any scheme for compensation; the protection of children and other vulnerable groups by the state, among others.
The document addresses the needs of victims of crime with a view to achieving symmetry in the perceived imbalance between the protection of the rights of offenders and the human rights of their victims.
In 2005, the Victim Support Unit provided services to more than 8,000 victims of crime, with more than half that number representing new cases of which the majority were women.
