Jamaica

Legal tradition

Jamaica belongs to the common law tradition. English common law received through colonisation and continued at independence in 1962, with a Westminster parliament and a judiciary headed locally by the Court of Appeal. The defining modern change is the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms, which replaced the original Chapter III in 2011 and made rights enforceable against the state with far fewer savings for pre-independence law. Jamaica accepts the original jurisdiction of the Caribbean Court of Justice on CARICOM treaty questions but has kept the Privy Council as its final appellate court.

How power is divided

Unitary. Parliament legislates for the whole island; the 14 parishes are administrative, with local authorities exercising only powers delegated by statute under the Local Governance Act 2016.

Where law comes from

The Constitution

Supreme law; the Charter of Rights binds the state and, in some respects, private actors.

Acts of Parliament

Bicameral: House of Representatives and an appointed Senate.

Received English common law and equity

Continued in force by the Constitution, as developed by Jamaican courts.

Judicial precedent

Privy Council decisions bind; its decisions on other Commonwealth appeals are highly persuasive.

The legal profession

A single fused profession under the Legal Profession Act: attorneys-at-law are admitted by the Supreme Court after a law degree and the Legal Education Certificate from the Norman Manley Law School. There is no split between barristers and solicitors, and the General Legal Council regulates admission and discipline.