Ministry of Justice and Legal Affairs gets increase

By Terresa McCall
Reporter-SKNVibes.com

~~Adz:Left~~BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – A 23.1 percent increase in the financial allocation for the Ministry of Justice and Legal Affairs was announced during the recent reading of the St. Christopher and Nevis 2009 Budget Address.

The delivery of the address was given by the Minister of Finance, Dr. the Hon. Timothy Harris on Tuesday, December16.

Dr. Harris informed his parliamentary colleagues and the nation that that ministry has been allocated $8,076,394 for the 2009 fiscal year, which registers a $1,515,837 increase from that allocated in the 2008 Budget.

He said the fact that the government saw if fit to allot an increase in finances to that ministry in “the context of a scarcity of financial resources” is testament of its commitment to law and order.

“The magnitude of this increase in the context of a scarcity of financial resources indicates that the upholding of justice and the maintenance of law and order remain at the top of government’s agenda.”

Dr. Harris promised that 2009 would see the continued efforts of the Ministry of Justice and Legal Affairs “to build the capacity of the Magistracy and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution in order to ensure that the Legal System has the capacity to cope with an ever increasing workload.”

The Law Revision Project, which is “now in its final stages of implementation”, and the decentralisation of the Legal Aid Clinic’s services are the projects which the Minister of Finance said would continue in the coming year.

“As stated in last year’s Budget Address, under this project (Law Revision Project) all the laws of the Federation will be updated and a system put in place for them to be continuously updated. This project has been costly, but it is a small price to pay when compared to the benefits to be derived. One major benefit would be that all our laws would be in electronic form and therefore more accessible to legal professionals and the general public alike.”

Regarding the Legal Aid Clinic project, Harris said, “This initiative is to ensure that our citizens from the various communities can easily access the services of the Legal Aid Clinic without having to come to Basseterre. Implementation of this initiative has been slowed due to staff constraints, but these impediments are being addressed.”