Pastor urges judiciary to abide by spirit of the law
by Christopher Thomas/Gleaner Writer · The GleanerWESTERN BUREAU:
Reverend Tara Tyme, the pastor of St Paul’s United Church in Montego Bay, St James, is urging Jamaica’s judges and other legal representatives to apply justice in practical ways instead of only fulfilling the letter of the law.
Tyme made the appeal while delivering the keynote sermon during the Judiciary of Jamaica’s annual assize church service at the William Knibb Baptist Church in Falmouth, Trelawny, on Sunday. The service was held under the theme ‘Diligently and Creatively Pursuing Justice and Peace’ to mark the start of the Trelawny Circuit Court’s Michaelmas term.
“To pursue justice means to approach it with persistence, integrity, and a sense of urgency, ensuring that the rights of the marginalised and vulnerable are upheld without bias or complacency. Creatively pursuing justice and peace, on the other hand, emphasises the need for innovative solutions, empathetic engagement and strategic collaborations to tackle systemic challenges and bring about lasting transformation,” said Tyme.
“As officers of the law, judges and lawyers and leaders in society, there can be a temptation to focus on the external forms of justice, ensuring that proper procedures are followed and that every ‘i’ is dotted and every ‘t’ is crossed, and rightly so. Yet, like the Pharisees, it is easy to lose sight of the essence of justice itself,” Tyme continued. “In 2024 and beyond, part of what we need to do is to make sure that we are not just enforcing the law…we must also be agents of restoration. This will involve advocating for policy changes, supporting community programmes that address the root causes of crime, and using our influence to create a more peaceful and just society.”
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Tyme suggested that members of the judiciary should help citizens to understand the application of justice, especially in cases where the law was followed but justice did not appear to be properly executed.
“I want us to consider a scenario where a defendant is acquitted due to a legal technicality, despite overwhelming evidence of guilt. The law was observed, but was justice truly served? This example reminds us that there is a need for constant vigilance to ensure that we are not just maintaining the facade of righteousness, but that we are seeking to address the deeper issues of injustice in our land,” said Tyme.
The pastor said that sometimes injustice is perpetrated because many people believe that justice was not done for them or to them, and many people lack the understanding of what justice entails.
“But there are times where we are not patient enough to help people to get clarity as they seek to have an understanding of this whole concept of justice,” Tyme added. “We are called to think beyond the letter of the law and to embody the spirit of the law, to bring healing and hope, and our country is in need of healing and hope.
Tyme’s recommendations come more than a year after the Ministry of Justice launched a $1.375-billion social justice project, So-JUST, on January 12, 2023. The project, funded by Canada and slated to run until 2028, aims to advance justice reform across Jamaica while focusing on vulnerable and underserved groups.