JUSTICE Minister Dorothy Lightbourne yesterday launched a pilot of the Government's much-touted Restorative and Community Justice programme which will be rolled out in four of the island's violent-prone communities.

The areas identified are Spanish Town in St Catherine; May Pen, Clarendon; Tower Hill in St Andrew; and Granville, St James.

Prime Minister Bruce Golding and Justice Minister Dorothy Lightbourne share a light moment on their arrival at the justice ministry's third International Conference on Restorative and Community Justice at the Knutsford Court Hotel in Kingston yesterday. (Photo: Bryan Cummings)

"I wish at this time to highlight that we are going to have four pilot projects and [they] are going to be concentrated in four hurting communities," Lightbourne announced during yesterday's launch of the Justice Ministry's third International Conference on Restorative and Community Justice at the Knutsford Court Hotel in Kingston. The conference ends today.

The programme, which over time is expected to result in less cases of non-fatal offences going to the island's courts, is expected to be launched islandwide within the next four years. Approximately 345,000 cases were last year listed before the resident magistrate's courts, the majority of which were criminal in nature.

READ MORE