Dionne Rose, Staff Reporter

Chief Justice Zaila McCalla (left) is in discussion with Cheryl Sloley, president of the Rotary Club of Liguanea Plains, at a meeting of the Rotary Club, Thursday night, at Eden Gardens, in St. Andrew. - Peta-Gaye Clachar/Staff Photographer

Chief Justice Zaila McCalla is urging medical doctors not to engage in the practice of writing false medical certificates to exempt persons from serving jury duty.

But Alverston Bailey, president of the Medical Association of Jamaica (MAJ), wants the Chief Justice to provide the evidence.

Justice McCalla made the appeal to the medical profession on Thursday night while addressing the Rotary Club of Liguanea Plains, at Eden Gardens, St. Andrew.

She noted that already, the jury selection pool is very small and that the practice, among other factors, was having an adverse effect on the justice system.

"Experience has shown that some medical practitioners issue medical certificates on an insufficient basis for exemption," she said.

Dr. Bailey, however, told The Gleaner yesterday that he had never received any such complaint.

"Until we get the evidence, we can't comment on the prevalence," he told The Gleaner when asked how widespread the problem was. "But if there is incontestable evidence we will obviously frown on it."

He, however, urged the Chief Justice to report the matter.

"To date, I have received no complaints from any aggrieved party to say that an inappropriate sick leave was submitted for a juror. So, it is impossible for me to comment on the matter in the absence of supporting evidence."

sanctions could be taken

The MAJ head, however, noted that if such practices had been detected, the MAJ would disapprove of them. He further said sanctions could be taken against any doctor so implicated, through the Medical Council of Jamaica.

"Doctors are bound by our code of ethics to write sick-leave certificates for patients who are truly in need of such certification and we don't really expect (that) doctors would write false certificates for financial gain," he said.

Justice McCalla said one of the recommendations made by the Jamaica Justice Reform Task Force as it relates to reforming the jury system, was to raise public awareness of the jury system through public education.

"There is the difficulty of serving summonses on jurors. Jurors sometimes don't show up to try cases for a variety of reasons and there is a reluctance on the member of the public to serve as jurors," she added.

"There is a general fear of persons to attend court I am

not aware of anyone being harmed from having participating as a juror," she said.

Meanwhile, Professor Errol Morrison, charter president at the Rotary Club, who is also involved in the medical field, said there is a genuine fear out there in the public by persons who are asked to do jury duties.

He, however, noted that this public awareness campaign should allay the fears and impress upon citizens, the role they need to play in ensuring that justice is served and that it is served in a timely way.

The Chief Justice said the Taskforce had also made several other recommendations to overhaul the jury system.

This she said included limiting the right to trial by jury to a few of the most serious offences and giving the accused the right to choose a trial by judge alone in the Supreme Court.

Another recommendation that have been forwarded by the Taskforce is the increase of penalties for non-attendance for jury duties.

The problem of insufficient jurors to serve in cases is nothing new and has in the past delay trials. One such example was in May of this year when murder cases which were set for trial in the Home Circuit Court had to be put off because of insufficient jurors.

The court was told that only 17 jurors were available for jury selection. A murder case requires at least 26 jurors for jury selection because the Crown and the defence are each entitled to challenge seven jurors and 12 jurors have to be empanelled for a murder case.

dionne.rose@gleanerjm.com