Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1697807083589.pdf (Jamaica)
THE CHIEF JUSTICE’S QUARTERLY PARISH COURT REPORT ON CRIMINAL MATTERS 1 THE CHIEF JUSTICE’S QUARTERLY PARISH COURT REPORT ON CRIMINAL MATTERS TABLE OF CONTENTS Executive Summary............................................................................................................................ 3 Methodology ..................................................................................................................................... 9 Chapter 1.0: Criminal Case Activity Statistics ................................................................................... 11 Chapter 2.0: Criminal Case Demographics ........................................................................................ 33 Chapter 8.0: Conclusion and Recommendations .............................................................................. 71 Chapter 8.0: Glossary of Terms ........................................................................................................ 76 2 THE CHIEF JUSTICE’S QUARTERLY PARISH COURT REPORT ON CRIMINAL MATTERS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This statistical report on criminal matters in the Parish Courts of Jamaica is for the first quarter ended March 31, 2018.
It represents a continuation of the enhanced efforts to measure court productivity and to provide a concrete basis for placing the analyses of the judicial system into perspective and for informing the policymaking and operational planning apparatus of the leadership of the courts.

This report interrogates a number of vital measures, which provides insights into the operations of the parish courts on both an individual and an aggregated basis.
It forms an important basis for understanding criminal case activity and delay factors in the parish courts as well as important characteristics of criminal cases.

The aggregate new case count in the parish courts for the quarter was 7,470 cases, down by 15.33% when compared to the 8,823 new cases recorded in the first quarter of 2017.
The Corporate Area Parish Court- Criminal Court with 1676 or 22.44% of the total, followed by the St. Catherine and St. James Parish Courts with 1,018 or 13.63% and 679 or 9.09% respectively, account for the three largest proportions of the new cases filed in the first quarter.

These three courts also ranked first to third in terms of share of aggregate new cases filed in 2017.
The parish courts of Hanover, St. Mary and Portland accounted for the lowest shares of the aggregate new cases filed, each with under 4% of the total caseload in the quarter.
The average monthly number of new criminal cases filed across all parish courts in the quarter was 2,490 cases, down from 2,941 in the corresponding period in 2017, representing a decline of 15.33% 3 THE CHIEF JUSTICE’S QUARTERLY PARISH COURT REPORT ON CRIMINAL MATTERS The overall average disposal rate for cases originating in the quarter was 45.69%, which is an increase of 7.69 percentage points when compared to the first quarter of 2017.
Throughout 2017, the parish courts of Westmoreland, St. James, St. Catherine and the Corporate Area consistently had the highest case disposal rates across all four quarters.

This trend has been sustained for the first quarter of 2018.

The Westmoreland Parish Court continues to dispose of new cases the fastest with a disposal rate of 60.27%, followed by the Corporate Area Court - Criminal Division with a rate of 59.55% and the St. James Parish Court with 57.88%.
Since the disposal rate measures the proportion of new cases disposed in the quarter, these are quite commendable rates.

All three courts showed improved disposal rates when compared to the first quarter of 2017.

The Clarendon Parish Court continues to be among the bottom three performing courts on this measure with a disposal rate of 35.41%.

The Manchester and St. Ann Parish Courts also continue to be ranked among the courts with the lowest disposal rates with 34.62% and 38.37% respectively.
The disposal rates are computed using cases originating in the quarter and should be interpreted within the context that many cases, which were disposed of in the courts, would have originated in prior periods.

Nevertheless, the results as before provide important insights into the movement of cases and thus into the potential build-up of a criminal case backlog in the respective courts.
The overall improvements in the case disposal rate is an indication of the potential of the courts to make meaningful in-roads into reducing the pre-existing case backlog and preventing newer matters from falling into this classification.
The propensities of this happening can be greatly strengthened by continuous improvements in case management across the courts, by 4 THE CHIEF JUSTICE’S QUARTERLY PARISH COURT REPORT ON CRIMINAL MATTERS optimizing resource alignments and by employing a more scientific approach to both the management of the case backlog and of the scheduling of cases for open court.

Possible strategies in this regard are outlined in the discussion of Differentiated Case Management (DCM) in the final chapter.
A measure, which is closely related to the case disposal rate, is the case clearance rate, which provides a measure of the number of cases disposed of for every new case filed in a particular period.

This is simply a productivity index as the disposed cases, which are included in its computation, could have originated before the period of focus.
The Westmoreland Parish Court dominated this performance measure in 2017 and continue to do exceedingly well with a case clearance rate of 108.26%, placing second behind the Portland Parish Court which was the biggest mover in the quarter, netting out at a rate of 126.92%.

The St Catherine Parish Court also continues to be a top performer on this measure with a case clearance rate of 105.59%.

The St. Thomas Parish Court was also a big mover, ending the quarter with a clearance rate of 101.97%.
A majority of the courts showed notable improvements on this important performance measure, with eight of them exceeding the International benchmark of 90% for the annualized case clearance rate.

The Clarendon Parish Court with a case clearance rate of 37.36% ranked lowest on this measure, while the Manchester and St. Ann Parish Courts complete the bottom three with 69.40% and 72.92% respectively.
The overall case clearance rate for the quarter was an impressive 89%, a notable improvement of 17.47 percentage points when compared to the annualized figure in 2017.

This output suggests that for every 100 new cases that were filed in the parish courts, roughly 89 were disposed 5 THE CHIEF JUSTICE’S QUARTERLY PARISH COURT REPORT ON CRIMINAL MATTERS (including cases originating prior to the quarter).
There is a direct association between the case disposal and case clearance rates as a poor case disposal rate will result from the persistence of a poor case clearance rates.

It is important to point out that a persistent case clearance rate of fewer than 100% will accelerate the case backlog and therefore the standard, which should be attained on an annual basis, is between 90% and 110%, based on International best practices in developed jurisdictions.
One highly important measure, which is of keen interest to the leadership of the courts and the policy makers, is the case congestion rate.

This is a measure of how well a court is doing in managing its pending caseload, relative to its rate of disposition and implied state of resources.

The higher the case congestion rate of a court, the more burdensome the caseload, again within the context of the existing rates of disposition and the implied state of resources.
Not surprisingly based on the results outlined above on case clearance and case disposition rates, the parish courts of Clarendon, Manchester and St. Ann reveal the highest case congestion rates, with the Clarendon Parish Court being particularly acute in this regard.

A high case congestion will generally result in lower disposal and clearance rates, which are potential symptoms of inefficiency.
On the matter of caseload distribution in the individual parishes, the data shows that in many cases the outstation courts in the respective parishes are carrying a notable share of the caseloads.

The overall average number of new cases heard in outstations in the first quarter of 2018 is 30%, while 70% were heard at the main parish court locations.
The variance is however quite wide among the parish courts as while it seen that in parishes like Hanover, St. 6 THE CHIEF JUSTICE’S QUARTERLY PARISH COURT REPORT ON CRIMINAL MATTERS Catherine, Mandeville, St. Elizabeth and St. Ann the use of outstation courts is 35% or over, in parishes like St. James and the Corporate Area Court – Criminal Division, under 5% of new cases were heard in such courts.
There appears to be the potential in many parishes for outstations to be utilized to a greater degree to ease the caseload carriage in the main courts, thus potentially enhancing case clearance and disposal rates by easing the case congestion.

The largest proportion of cases disposed of in the year was by way of guilty pleas, accounting for 62.20% of the cases disposed.

This was followed by cases dismissed, which was responsible for 19.43% of the cases disposed.
It is of note that guilty verdicts accounted for 3.11% of the matters disposed.

Taken together, the data therefore reveals a conviction rate of 65.31% for the first quarter of 2018, a decline of 13.61% when compare to the corresponding period in 2017.
Further analysis of the data suggests that for the cases originating over the past 18 months which were disposed in the first quarter of 2018, roughly 76% were disposed of within 90 days, which is quite an encouraging result that is consistent with the generally improved clearance rates seen across the parish courts.
In terms of the distribution of case types, the report highlights that the largest proportion of the criminal cases filed in the courts were Indictments with approximately 36.27% of all charges.

This is followed by Summary Matters with a roughly 35.47% and Petty Sessions with approximately 16.17% of the total.

It is of note that committal proceedings accounted for 9.37% of all criminal matters filed in the parish courts during the quarter.
An important delay factor, which affects the efficiency with which cases move towards disposition, is the incidence of adjournments in the parish courts.

The report suggests that 7 THE CHIEF JUSTICE’S QUARTERLY PARISH COURT REPORT ON CRIMINAL MATTERS the dominant reasons for adjournments for the quarter were parties not appearing with an estimated 11.24% of all adjournments, and reissued applications with roughly 10.91%.
Ranking next are incomplete files with approximately 8.64% and the unavailability of medical reports with an estimated 4.64% of the total incidence of adjournments, which numbered in excess of 5000 across the courts during the quarter.

The three most frequent criminal charges filed in the parish courts in the quarter were assault occasioning bodily harm with 11.12%, unlawful wounding with 8.11% and possession of offensive weapons with 6.33% of the total number of charges.
The vast majority of offences were committed by males, accounting for roughly 83% of all charges filed during the quarter.

The dominant age group of offenders was the 20 - 26 and 27 – 36 age groups accounting for roughly 26.18% and 29.70% respectively of all offences filed in the parish courts in the quarter.

The most up to date estimated backlog of criminal cases in the parish courts is 29,724 cases, which is close to the combined annual criminal caseload.
This represents incremental reductions over the past eighteen months.

A criminal case is considered to be in backlog if it has been in the court system for more than two years without disposal.
8 THE CHIEF JUSTICE’S QUARTERLY PARISH COURT REPORT ON CRIMINAL MATTERS METHODOLOGY Guaranteeing the reliability and validity of the data used to produce the periodic statistical reports for the Jamaican Courts is of utmost importance as we seek to produce a data driven enterprise for policy making and operational decisions.

As a result, a robust and verifiable system of data production has been created in both the parish courts and the Supreme Court.
At the parish courts, a data capture system for criminal matters, called the CISS (Case Information Statistical System) has been operational in all courts for the past 22 months.

This system captures a wide range of data on the progression of criminal cases from initiation to disposition and is manned by at least one dedicated Data Entry Officer in each court.

The Data Entry Officers update the system on a daily basis so that the data produced is as close as possible to real time.
The electronic data sheets for each parish court are then validated and backed-up to the network at the end of each month and the data submitted to a centralized, secure medium for processing by the Statistical Unit of the Supreme Court.

A robust data validation mechanism is in place to periodically sample criminal case files in all parish courts on a quarterly basis.
A representative sample of case files are taken in each case and cross- checked against the electronic data to detect and eliminate errors of omission and commission.

A monthly statistical report is produced using the data submissions, culminating in Quarterly Reports and eventually the Annual Report of this nature.
All Quarterly and Annual Parish Court reports are published on the website of the Supreme Court; however, interim data required by stakeholders may be requested through the Office of the Chief Justice.

9 THE CHIEF JUSTICE’S QUARTERLY PARISH COURT REPORT ON CRIMINAL MATTERS Structure of report The report is divided into two main sections.
Chapter 1.0 explores case activity statistics by examining the caseload carried by each parish court in aggregate and by quarter as well the associated disposal rates, clearance rates and case congestion rates as appropriate.

This section also examines the distribution of the different types of cases filed in the respective courts as well as the most commonly occurring charges and the trial certainty ratios.
The common reasons for adjournment and the distribution of the methods of case disposition are also examined in this section along with the overall conviction rate.

Chapter 2.0 examines case demographics including age and gender distribution of offenders as well as a sample estimate of the geographical distribution of charges based the police station where matters are reported.

This section also examines the distribution of new cases heard in the quarter by the respective outstations in each parish.
10 THE CHIEF JUSTICE’S QUARTERLY PARISH COURT REPORT ON CRIMINAL MATTERS Chapter 1.0: Criminal Case Activity Statistics in the Parish Courts from January-March, 2018 This chapter provides an assessment of criminal case activity in the parish courts for the first quarter ended March 31, 2018.
This includes analysis of the criminal caseload, rates of case disposal, clearance and congestion as well as cases statuses in the various courts over the period as well as assessments of trial credibility ratios, common methods of disposition and reasons for adjournment.
Table 1.0: Aggregate case statistics for each parish court for the quarter ended March 31, 2018 Parish Court Number of new cases filed Number of inactive cases Number of disposed cases Pending case load Case Disposal Rate (%) Westmoreland 448 Corporate Area Criminal St. James St. Catherine St. Thomas Trelawny St. Mary Portland Hanover St. Elizabeth St. Ann Clarendon Manchester 1676 679 1018 304 328 288 286 259 399 576 562 647 34 315 80 102 1 4 40 20 - THE CHIEF JUSTICE’S QUARTERLY PARISH COURT REPORT ON CRIMINAL MATTERS Total Average Standard deviation Skewness 7470 2490 394.96 2.08 815 63 83.72 2.58 2841 219 175.83 1.95 3814 293 156.06 1.34 - 45.72 9.38 0.61 The table above shows the aggregate case statistics for each parish court for the quarter ended March 31, 2018.
A total of 7,470 new criminal cases were filed across the parish courts, while 3,656 cases were either disposed or became inactive, resulting in a gross disposal rate of 45.69%.

In the corresponding quarter for the 2017 calendar year 8,823 cases were filed, while 3,364 cases were either disposed or inactive which resulted in a disposal rate of 38.13%.
This comparison reveals that over the corresponding periods, there was a decrease of 15.33% in the number of cases filed and an increase of 8.68% in the number of disposals, which resulted in a 7.56 percentage point increase in cases disposed.

The best performing courts in relation to case disposal rates for the first quarter of 2018 were the Westmoreland (60.27), Corporate Area Criminal (59.55) and St. James (57.88) Parish Courts.
The bottom three courts on this measure were St. Ann (38.37), Clarendon (35.41) and Manchester (34.62) parish courts.

The three courts with the highest disposal rates in 2018 were also the leaders on this measure in the corresponding period in 2017, while the three bottom courts were also among the courts with the weakest output in said period.
The skewness of the number of new cases filed, the number of cases disposed and the active pending case load are all moderately positive, which is an indication that the majority of the 12 THE CHIEF JUSTICE’S QUARTERLY PARISH COURT REPORT ON CRIMINAL MATTERS courts fall the below the average count in each case.
The skewness of the case disposal rates is however close to a symmetrical distribution, which indicates that the average differences between the individual disposal rates of the courts and the overall average rate are not significant.

This is affirmed by the relatively low standard deviation for the distribution of the disposal rates.
Table 2.0: Aggregate case statistics for each parish court as at March 2018 Parish Court Number of new cases filed in the quarter JAN-MAR Westmoreland 448 St. Catherine Corporate Area Criminal 1018 1676 St. James Portland St. Thomas Hanover St. Mary Trelawny St. Elizabeth Manchester St. Ann Clarendon 679 286 304 259 288 328 399 647 576 562 Disposed in Quarter JAN.-MAR Inactive in Quarter JAN.MAR Grand Total Number of inactive cases Grand Total Numb er of dispos ed cases 2052 4798 Case Clearance rate (%) Case congestion rate (%) Grand Active Pending case load as at December Total 7470 5372 1269 7577 26184 8509 - - 13 THE CHIEF JUSTICE’S QUARTERLY PARISH COURT REPORT ON CRIMINAL MATTERS Average Std.
574.62 413.23 97.61 582.85 394.96 277.02 133.06 531.89 2014.

15 1343.

15 654.54 88.66 310.19 567.25 22.6 324.24 Skewness 2.08 1.81 2.7 1.36 1.54 +2.36 -0.69 3.40 Note: *The figures are computed for the period since the use of the CISS system commenced in August 2016.

Not all courts commenced at the same time so the exact times vary but are long enough to make statistically significant inferences.

The table above is an extension of table 1.0.


Among the data reported on in this table is the case congestion rate across the parish courts.

This provides a measure of manageability of a court’s existing caseload.

In particular, it provides an indication of the caseload burden relative to existing resources and the pace of case disposal.
The Clarendon Parish Court has by far the largest case congestion rate over the period measured, largely because of its persistently weak case disposal and case clearance rates.

The parish courts of Manchester and St. Ann are the next two courts with the highest case congestion rates; both also demonstrate modest disposal and clearance rates.

High case congestion rates can be a product of resource deficiencies and slow case clearance and case disposal rates along with a rapidly rising number of new cases.
Quite unsurprisingly, the parish courts of Westmoreland, the Corporate Area, St. Catherine and St. James perform best on this measure as they consistently demonstrated the highest case disposal and clearance rates throughout 2017 and continue to excel in this regard.
Caseload and resources does not appear to be a major factor explaining the differences in performance here as the courts ranking on either ends of the scale are the larger 14 THE CHIEF JUSTICE’S QUARTERLY PARISH COURT REPORT ON CRIMINAL MATTERS courts in the island and resource endowment do not vary in a statistically significant way among the courts.

The results on the case clearance rates are also quite interesting.
The Portland and St. Thomas Parish Courts are the biggest movers on this measure, surging above a 100% clearance rate for the quarter.

When compared to their overall annual case clearance rate in 2017, the Portland Parish Court improved by roughly 62 percentage points while the St. Thomas Parish Court improved by approximately 30 percentage points.
The parish courts of Westmoreland, St. Catherine, St. James and the Corporate Area Court – Criminal Division continue to meet the International standard on this measure, with clearance rates of over 90%, while the parish courts of St. Mary and Trelawny are also notable movers, joining the number of courts exceeding the 90% clearance rate mark.

The clearance rates for the parish courts of Clarendon with 37.36% and the Manchester with 69.40% were the only two courts falling below 70% for the quarter.
Overall, the parish courts moved from an average clearance rate of roughly 70% in 2017 to roughly 89% in the first quarter of 2018, with eight courts meeting the International standard.

Among these courts, the parish courts of Portland, Westmoreland, St. Thomas and St. Catherine stand out with clearance rates of over 100%.

The large number of courts with improved or sustained high clearance rates have resulted in a slight negative skewness in the distribution of these rates.
This affirms that there were slightly more courts with higher than average clearance rates.

The clearance and congestion rates over the course of the coming two quarters should be highly interesting and instructive.
15 THE CHIEF JUSTICE’S QUARTERLY PARISH COURT REPORT ON CRIMINAL MATTERS Table 3.0: Trial certainty ratio for the quarter ended March 31, 2018 Parish Court Trial dates set Trial dates adjourned Trial certainty ratio (%) Clarendon Portland Westmoreland Trelawny St. James St. Ann Corporate Area Criminal St. Thomas St. Catherine Manchester St. Mary St. Elizabeth Hanover Total/Average The trial date credibility provides a measure of the extent to which trial dates, which are set, are adhered.
A result of 1 or 100% indicates that all trial dates, which are set, are completely adhered to therefore the closer, the result is to 1, the better it is.

There were 845 trial dates set for the January to March quarter, in the Parish Courts and at the date of the preparation of this report, 79% of the dates set proceeded without adjournment.

The parish courts with the best trial certainty ratio were Clarendon (100%), Portland (100%), Westmoreland (100%) and Trelawny (100%).
Conversely, the courts with the lowest trial credibility ratio in the period 16 THE CHIEF JUSTICE’S QUARTERLY PARISH COURT REPORT ON CRIMINAL MATTERS were St. Mary (63%), St. Elizabeth (50%) and Hanover (18%).

Though quite insightful, this type of data will become more meaningful over a longer period as the year progresses.
Case Types Table 4.0: Types of charges for each Parish Court for the quarter ended March 31, 2018 Parish Court Indictment Summary Matters Petty Sessions Case Types Committal Proceedings Tax Miscellaneous LRF Traffic NS Total Corporate Area Criminal St. Catherine Manchester St. James St. Ann Clarendon Westmoreland St. Elizabeth St. Thomas Trelawny St. Mary Portland Hanover Total 1024 1057 401 188 - - 16 - 12 22 12 - 30 - - - - - 68 - - - - - - - - - - - 25 - - - - 1 - 21 - - - 28 - - - 1 - - 1 - - - - - 4368 4272 1947 1129 175 68 47 30 - - - - 1 2 - - - - - - 1 4 2701 1777 1114 1073 924 821 814 612 501 486 469 399 352 1204 3 Percentage 36.27 35.47 16.17 9.37 1.45 0.56 0.39 0.25 0.03 100.0 *Total number of charges in the sample = 12,043.
**LRF means Law Reform Fraudulent Transaction, ***NS means not stated 17 THE CHIEF JUSTICE’S QUARTERLY PARISH COURT REPORT ON CRIMINAL MATTERS The above table provides a breakdown of the different types of new charges filed in each parish court for the January-March quarter of 2018.

For the quarter, 12,043 charges were filed across the parish courts, a decline of 5.92 percentage points when compared to the corresponding quarter in 2017.
The majority of these charges were filed in the Corporate Area Court – Criminal Division (2,701), the St. Catherine Parish Court (1,777), Manchester Parish Court with (1,114) and the St. James Parish Court with 1073 charges.

The majority of the charges were Indictments (36.27%); followed by Summary Matters (35.47%), Petty Sessions (16.17%) and Committal Proceedings with 9.37% of the total.
The Corporate Area Court- Criminal Division accounted for the largest proportion of both Summary Matters and Indictments.

This was followed by the parish courts of St. Catherine, Manchester and St. James.

The largest proportion of Petty Sessions were also filed at the Corporate Area Parish Court – Criminal Division followed by the parish courts of St. Catherine and Manchester.
The Corporate Area Parish Court- Criminal followed by the parish courts of St. Catherine and St. Ann, account for the largest individual shares of Committal Proceedings.

As for criminal matters, which are traffic related, the only incidences of these in the quarter was in the Corporate Area Parish Court – Criminal Division and the parish court of St. Elizabeth and St. Ann.
18 THE CHIEF JUSTICE’S QUARTERLY PARISH COURT REPORT ON CRIMINAL MATTERS Offence Types Table 5.0: Most frequently occurring charges across the parish courts for the quarter ended March 31, 2018 Parish Court Manchester Clarendon St. Catherine St. Thomas Portland St. Mary St. James Corporate Area Criminal Westmoreland Hanover St. Elizabeth St. Ann Trelawny Total Assault occasioning bodily harm Unlawful wounding Possession of offensive weapon Threat Malicious destruction of property Exposing goods for sale 115 125 143 70 76 42 93 263 109 44 112 88 59 1339 84 74 101 38 70 52 49 41 65 174 44 6 - 94 187 244 50 40 86 109 37 977 - - - 48 124 45 - 1 17 2 534 468 Percentage of total 11.12 8.11 6.33 5.19 4.43 3.89 ***Total number of charges = 12,043 19 THE CHIEF JUSTICE’S QUARTERLY PARISH COURT REPORT ON CRIMINAL MATTERS The above table shows the distribution of the six most commonly occurring types of charges across all parish courts for the January-March quarter of the 2018.
It is shown that assault occasioning bodily harm with 1339 or 11.12% of the total number of charges is the most frequently occurring.

This was followed by unlawful wounding with 977 or 8.11% and possession of offensive weapon with 762 or 6.33%.

The top six is rounded off by threats with 625 or 5.19%, malicious destruction of property with 534 or 4.43% and exposing goods for sale with 468 or 3.89% of the total count of charges filed in the parish courts during the quarter.
These six most frequently occurring types of charges account for approximately 39% of the total incidence of charges in quarter.
Table 6.0: Average age of active charges for each parish court for charges filed in the quarter ended March 31, 2018 Parish Court Portland Trelawny St. Catherine St. Mary St. Thomas Westmoreland St. Ann Manchester St. Elizabeth Clarendon Hanover Average Age of Active charges (days) 30.52 33.04 34.65 34.83 35.16 36.56 37.32 38.51 39.93 40.08 40.16 20 THE CHIEF JUSTICE’S QUARTERLY PARISH COURT REPORT ON CRIMINAL MATTERS Corporate Area Criminal St. James Overall Average Standard Deviation Skewness 40.43 62.76 38.76 7.82 2.63 The above table shows the average age of active charges originating in the January-March quarter of 2018, for charges originating in said quarter.
The average age of active matter originating in the quarter was 38.76 days (1.2 months) which is a marked improvement when compared to the corresponding quarter last year which had an average age of active cases of 70.17 (2.3 months).

The parish courts of Portland, Trelawny, St. Catherine and St. Mary have the lowest averages on the list.

On the contrary, the highest averages were observed for in the parish courts of Clarendon, Hanover, Corporate Area Criminal and St. James.
There is an intuitive correlation between clearance rates and the average age of cases in the long run but it does not necessarily manifest empirically in the short-run.

This means that in the long run, courts with higher clearance rates will in general have a lower backlog and a lower average age of active cases.
Courts, which manage to maintain a clearance rate of between 90% and 110% long enough will eventually eliminate case backlog, a feat that is quite conceivable with improved case progression management in the respective courts.

In such cases, the average time taken to dispose of cases will experience a natural decline, tapering off at a modest, tolerable rate and improving the efficiency of the courts and the enhancing the timely delivery of justice.
The standard deviation of the scores was low, an indication that the individual 21 THE CHIEF JUSTICE’S QUARTERLY PARISH COURT REPORT ON CRIMINAL MATTERS values for the parish courts were on average fairly close to the overall mean.

The positive skewness shown further indicates that the larger proportion of the scores are towards the lower end of the scale.
Table 7.0: Average age of charges disposed for matters originating in the quarter ended March 31, 2018 Parish Court Average Age of Disposed charges (days) Corporate Area Criminal Portland St. James Westmoreland Manchester Clarendon Hanover St. Mary St. Ann St. Elizabeth Trelawny St. Catherine St. Thomas Overall Average Standard Deviation Skewness 6.11 7.20 8.84 9.56 9.66 11.62 12.12 14.44 16.74 23.49 27.48 35.45 39.06 17.05 10.91 1.08 The above table shows that the average time taken to dispose of criminal cases in the January- March quarter, which were filed in the Parish Courts, is 17.05 days or just over 2 weeks.
The 22 THE CHIEF JUSTICE’S QUARTERLY PARISH COURT REPORT ON CRIMINAL MATTERS standard deviation of roughly 11 days is an indication that there was some amount of variation in the distribution of the scores, which ranged from a low of roughly 6 days at the Corporate Area Court – Criminal Division to a high of 39 days for the St. Thomas Parish Court.
It is of note that for cases originating in the quarter, along with the Corporate Area Court – Criminal Division, the average age of cases disposed was also under 10 days for the parish courts of Manchester, St. James, Portland and Westmoreland.

In addition to the St. Thomas Parish Court, the parish courts of Trelawny and St. Catherine demonstrated averages of over 25 days for the time taken to dispose of cases originating in the quarter.
The moderate positive skewness of 1.08 is an indication that slightly more of the scores were lower than the average time to disposition.

Though insightful, this data will become more meaningful as the time series for the year expands.
Table 8.0: Breakdown of time to disposition as at March 31, 2018 Parishes Time Intervals in days 0-89 days 90-179 days 180-269 days 270-364 days 365 days and over Frequency Corporate Area Criminal St. Catherine St. James Manchester Westmoreland St. Ann 8565 (81.0%) 6709 (78.8%) 4362 (81.0%) 2184 (63.0%) 2639 (77.5%) 2051 (67.0%) 1293 (12.2%) 1083 (12.7%) 465 (4.4%) 207 (2.0%) 44 (0.4%) 444 (5.2%) 204 (2.4%) 71 (0.8%) 584 (10.8%) 231 (4.3%) 114 (2.1%) 97 (1.8%) 612 (17.7%) 417 (12.0%) 179 (5.1%) 75 (2.2%) 486 (14.3%) 149 (4.4%) 84 (2.5%) 45 (1.3%) 546 (17.8%) 221 (7.2%) 132 (4.3%) 112 (3.7%) 10574 (100%) 8515 (100%) 5388 (100%) 3467 (100%) 3403 (100%) 3062 (100%) 23 THE CHIEF JUSTICE’S QUARTERLY PARISH COURT REPORT ON CRIMINAL MATTERS St. Thomas Portland Clarendon St. Mary St. Elizabeth Trelawny Hanover Total %of total Average Standard deviation Skewness 1561 (65.6%) 1382 (64.2%) 1818 (95.2%) 1343 (70.8%) 1107 (68.7%) 1186 (74.8%) 1234 (79.3%) 403 (19.9%) 182 (7.7%) 182 (7.7%) 50 (2.1%) 400 (18.4%) 184 (8.6%) 119 (5.5%) 66 (3.1%) 56 (2.9%) 12 (0.6%) 3 (0.2%) 20 (1.0%) 292 (15.4%) 156 (8.2%) 73 (3.8%) 34 (1.8%) 294 (18.2%) 137 (8.5%) 54 (3.4%) 19 (1.2%) 225 (14.2%) 100 (6.3%) 54 (3.4%) 20 (1.3%) 197 (12.7%) 84 (5.4%) 31 (2.0%) 10 (0.6%) 2378 (100%) 2151 (100%) 1909 (100%) 1898 (100%) 1611 (100%) 1585 (100%) 1556 (100%) Note: The data in this table covers at least a consecutive 15 month period over September 2016 - March 31, 2018 for each parish court The table above shows the breakdown of the time disposition for matters filed in the respective parish courts for at least 18 consecutive months over the period September 2016 to March 2018.
The results shown suggests decisively that a significant proportion of the charges disposed in the period took less than 90 days, accounting for roughly 76% of the disposals.

Not surprisingly based on earlier narrative, the parish courts of St. James, St. Catherine, Westmoreland and the Corporate Area Parish Court – Criminal Division are among the courts accounting for the larger proportions of cases being disposed in under 90 days.
For 24 THE CHIEF JUSTICE’S QUARTERLY PARISH COURT REPORT ON CRIMINAL MATTERS the cases disposed over this sample period, the courts as a whole are performing quite creditably with the proportion of cases disposed falling incrementally as the time intervals get larger.

Cumulatively, 89.71% of the matters disposed over the period took less than a year and the remaining 10.29% took between a year and 18 months across the parish courts.
From the data set, the parish courts of Manchester, St. Ann, Portland and St. Thomas had the largest proportion of their disposed matters taking between a year and 18 months however, the significantly larger proportion took under a year for these courts.

The skewness of the times taken by the respective parish courts to dispose of matters in this sample did not vary dramatically either within or across the period, particularly for the higher times to disposition.
This is an indication that for disposed cases, the times taken are not markedly different across the courts.

The difference however is the proportion of cases disposed, relative to the caseload, which as shown earlier, indicates that some courts are performing much better.
Table 9.0: Descriptive statistics on the time to disposition for cases disposed as at March 31, 2018 Parish Court Time to disposition (in days) Skewness Minimum Maximum Average Mode Median Standard deviation Clarendon Corporate Area Criminal St. Catherine St. James Hanover Number of disposed charges (sample size) 1909 10574 8515 5388 1556 25 THE CHIEF JUSTICE’S QUARTERLY PARISH COURT REPORT ON CRIMINAL MATTERS Westmoreland Trelawny St. Elizabeth St. Mary St. Ann St. Thomas Portland Manchester Total/Average Std.
53.35 57.86 69.76 70.81 76.78 80.53 85.21 85.89 60.30 20.50 Skewness -0.719 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - -0.591 3.04 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 491 492 540 511 659 541 704 521 3404 1585 1611 1898 3062 2378 2151 3467 536.30 47,498 70.26 1.62 1.72 0.616 Number of charges sampled (N) = 47,498 Note: The data in this table covers at least a consecutive 15 month period over September 2016 - March 31, 2018 for each Parish Court The table above shows the descriptive statistics on a sample of matters disposed for each parish court as at March 31, 2018.
For each parish court, the estimates cover at least 15 consecutive months spanning September 2016 to March 2017 and it should be noted that these descriptive statistics are for matters disposed of over that sample period.

The output reveals that overall average estimated time taken to dispose of matters in the parish courts (Criminal Division) over the period is 60.30 days.
The skewness of these times to disposition is -0.719, suggesting that there were comparatively more times to disposition among the parish courts, which were above the overall mean.
For matters disposed of in the period, the parish courts of Clarendon (14 days), the Corporate Area Court – Criminal Division (44 days) and the parish courts of St. James (48 days) and St. Catherine (48 days) take the lowest times 26 THE CHIEF JUSTICE’S QUARTERLY PARISH COURT REPORT ON CRIMINAL MATTERS on average to dispose of cases over the period.
The significance of the high ranking of the Clarendon Parish Court on this list is however diminished by the fact that relative to the number of new incoming cases, this court has the lowest disposal and clearance rates.

Nevertheless, it is instructive that the potential is shown for a shorter than average time to disposition.

The parish courts of Manchester (86 days), Portland (85 days) and St. Thomas (81 days) demonstrate the highest times to disposition over the period.
The variation among the times to disposition across the parish courts are however wide as shown by the relatively high standard deviation, suggesting inconsistencies in performances on this measure.

An important finding from these results is that in most parish courts the most frequently occurring time to disposition is 0 days (modal value), which is an indication that across the parish courts over the period sampled, a number of the cases disposed, were done on the first day of court appearance.
This result is both a reflection of the relative complexity of cases entering open court over the period as well as the high conviction rate resulting from the incidence of guilty pleas.

This further suggests that mechanisms to encourage guilty pleas as seen with the ‘Sentence Reduction Days’ policy employed in the Supreme Court can potentially have a positive effect on improved use of judicial time and more productive courtroom utilization rates.
The maximum times to disposition in the sample ranged from a low of 474 days (16 months) in the Hanover Parish Court to a high of 704 days (23.5 months) in the Portland Parish Court.

The skewness of the maximum time to disposition is moderately positive, which is an indication that slightly more of these times were lower than the overall 27 THE CHIEF JUSTICE’S QUARTERLY PARISH COURT REPORT ON CRIMINAL MATTERS mean.
The sample size used to compute these descriptive data was 47,498 charges, which is statistically significant and representative.
Methods of Disposal and Criminal Conviction Rate Table 10.0: Sampling distribution of the methods of disposal for the quarter ended March 31, 2018 Parish Court Guilty Plea Dismissed Not guilty verdict Transferred Mediated settlement Guilty Verdict Committed to Circuit Court Total Corporate Area Criminal St Catherine St. James Westmoreland Manchester St. Ann Clarendon St. Elizabeth St. Thomas Trelawny St. Mary Hanover Portland Total Percentage of Total - - 39 29 - 14 - 35 49 29 154 1 1 8 2 - - 1 1 - 4 - - 93 - - 1 1 - 29 - - 16 4 8 2597 62.20 811 19.43 231 5.53 201 4.81 152 3.64 19 - 2 9 1 3 - 2 19 2 5 67 1 130 3.11 2 7 - - - 9 - 12 4 3 8 - - 45 1.08 Total sample size = 4175 997 796 373 360 288 153 212 181 207 193 131 135 149 4175 100 28 THE CHIEF JUSTICE’S QUARTERLY PARISH COURT REPORT ON CRIMINAL MATTERS The above table shows a sampling distribution of the methods of disposition across all parish courts for the January-March quarter 2018.
From the sample, it is observed that the majority of matters disposed of during the quarter were by way of guilty plea with 62.20% of the disposals, followed by matters dismissed with 19.43% and not guilty with 5.53%.

Matters transferred with 4.81%, mediated settlements with 3.64%, guilty verdicts with 3.11%, and matters committed to Circuit Court with 1.08% account for the remaining methods of disposal in the quarter.
The combined 65.31% of the cases disposed by way of guilty outcomes represents the criminal conviction rate in the parish courts for the quarter.

This represents a decline of 13.61 percentage points when compared to the first quarter of 2017.
Common Reasons for Adjournment Table 10.0: Distribution of the most frequently occurring reasons for adjournment for the quarter ended March 31, 2018 Reasons for Adjournment/Continuance Count Percentage Defendant Not Appearing (DNA) warrant issued Re-issue application File to be completed Medical report unavailable Disclosure Subpoena investigating officer Subpoena crown witness Legal representative to be settled Fingerprint outstanding Social enquiry report requested 612 559 443 238 219 156 88 79 74 61 11.94 10.91 8.64 4.64 4.27 3.04 1.72 1.54 1.44 1.19 29 THE CHIEF JUSTICE’S QUARTERLY PARISH COURT REPORT ON CRIMINAL MATTERS Referred to Dispute Resolution Foundation Subpoena complainant Psychiatric evaluation to be done Mediation Not before court Complainant absent Legal aid assignment 57 54 51 46 35 29 29 1.11 1.05 0.99 0.90 0.68 0.57 0.57 (Sample size of reasons for adjournments/continuance = 5,126) Note: DNA means that the accused did not appear The above table shows that from a sample of 5126 reasons for adjournments/continuance in the January-March quarter across all parish courts, the largest proportion were because of adjournments due to the non-appearance of defendants.
Applications reissued and files to be completed with 559 or 10.91% and 443 or 8.64% respectively followed this.

The top five reasons for adjournment across the parish courts was rounded off by adjournments due to medical reports unavailable with 238 incidences or 4.64% of the sample and adjournments for disclosure with 219 incidences or 4.27%.

These reasons for adjournment also featured prominently in the Hilary Term of 2017 and in the annualized data for that year.
30 THE CHIEF JUSTICE’S QUARTERLY PARISH COURT REPORT ON CRIMINAL MATTERS Table 11.0: Distribution of the most frequently occurring reasons for continuance for the quarter ended March 31, 2018 Reasons for Adjournment/Continuance Count Percentage Sentencing Bail application 583 94 11.37 1.83 (Sample size of reasons for adjournments/continuance = 5,126) The analysis of adjournments makes a distinction between those incidences, which may be considered avoidable due to either internal or external factors, and those, which are intrinsic to the progression of a case.
The above table highlights the primary reasons for adjournment gleaned from the sample, which may be considered as simply intrinsic to the progression of some cases.

These reasons are classified as reasons for ‘continuance.’ As seen in the above table, adjournments for sentencing and those for bail application featured prominently among such reasons.
Part-heard matters would typically also feature prominently among the reasons for adjournment/continuance however; a sufficiently isolated count of such occurrences was unavailable.

This will appear however appear in the second quarter’s report.
Table 12.0 Mention Court frequency as at March 31, 2018 Parish Court Corporate Area Criminal St. Catherine St. James Clarendon Manchester Number active of matters mentioned 0-5 times Number of active matters mentioned 6 – 9 times Number of active matters mentioned 10 and over times 13,262 9,435 7,324 5,939 4,964 885 558 239 18 521 175 127 100 0 154 31 THE CHIEF JUSTICE’S QUARTERLY PARISH COURT REPORT ON CRIMINAL MATTERS St. Ann Westmoreland St. Thomas Trelawny Portland St. Elizabeth St. Mary Hanover Total Proportion Note: The data in this table covers the period September 2016 to March 31, 2018 The table above shows the mention court frequency as at March 31, 2018.
The table shows that there were 63,462 incidence of the active charges with a mention court frequency of 0- 5 times; 3,635 incidences or 5.34% with mention court frequency of 6-9 times and the remaining 883 (1.29%) were mentioned 10 and over times.

This represents a total mention court frequency of 67,980, which translates into a court-wide average of roughly two mentions per case file over the period.
However, the variances in the average overall mention court frequency among the courts and by case types are wide, ranging from a low of two to a high of five mentions per case file.
32 THE CHIEF JUSTICE’S QUARTERLY PARISH COURT REPORT ON CRIMINAL MATTERS Chapter 2.0: Criminal case demographics, courtroom/outstation utilization and offence distribution for the quarter ended March 31, 2018 This Chapter of the report outlines a range of measures on case demographics, including gender and age distribution as well as the distribution of the most frequently occurring charges in the quarter.
Additionally, this chapter highlights the caseload distribution by courtrooms and outstations in the various parishes as well as of the distribution of charges filed by the police stations of origin.
Chart 1.0: Aggregate age distribution of offenders for all parish courts for the quarter ended March 31, 2018 10.23% 11.17% 22.71% 26.18% 29.70% 19 & younger 20-26 27-36 37-50 51 & Older 33 THE CHIEF JUSTICE’S QUARTERLY PARISH COURT REPORT ON CRIMINAL MATTERS The above chart shows that of the total number of offenders, for which age data was readily available for the January to March quarter of 2018; the largest proportion, 29.70% were from the 27-36 age cohort.
This category is followed by the 20-26 age group with 26.18%, the 37- 50 age group with 22.71% and the youngest age cohorts 19 years and younger accounting for 11.17%.

The oldest age cohort in the distribution accounted for the lowest proportions with the 51 and over category accounting for 10.23% and of total offenders.
Chart 2.0: Aggregate gender distribution of offenders for the quarter ended March 31, 2018 90.00% 80.00% 70.00% 60.00% 50.00% 40.00% 30.00% 20.00% 10.00% 0.00% 82.62% Male 17.37% Female The above chart shows that the overwhelming majority of offenders across the parish courts for the January to March quarter, 2018 were male, accounting for roughly 82.62% of the total while females accounted for approximately 17.37%.
34 THE CHIEF JUSTICE’S QUARTERLY PARISH COURT REPORT ON CRIMINAL MATTERS Table 13.0: Sampling distribution of the most frequently occurring charges by gender for the quarter ended March 31, 2018 Male Female Total Charge Count % Count % Count % Assault occasioning bodily harm (assault) 1431 79.02 Unlawful wounding Possession of offensive weapon Threat Malicious destruction of property Exposing goods for sale Possession of ganja Dealing in ganja Disorderly conduct Littering Resisting arrest Illegal possession of firearm Simple larceny Indecent language Smoking in a public place Rape Robbery with aggravation Grievous sexual assault Murder Abusive and calumnious language ***The gender of offenders was not available for every matter that was filed in the parish courts N = 11,496 35 THE CHIEF JUSTICE’S QUARTERLY PARISH COURT REPORT ON CRIMINAL MATTERS The above table provides a sampling distribution of the most frequently occurring charges by gender in the quarter ended March 31, 2018.
Based on the data shown in chart 2.0, it is not surprising that males account for the dominant proportion of all these charges.

Among the offences listed with the greatest imbalance in the gender distribution are rape, grievous sexual assault, robbery with aggravation, illegal possession of firearm, littering, smoking in a public place, possession of an offensive weapon and murder for which over 90% of the offenders were male.
Exposing good for sale, abusive and calumnious language and disorderly conduct saw the highest incidence of female involvement among the offences, which appeared most frequently.
Table 13.1: Sampling distribution of the most frequently occurring charges across the parish courts for the quarter ended March 31, 2018 Charge Count % Assault occasioning bodily harm (assault) 1811 15.75 Unlawful wounding 937 8.15 Possession of offensive weapon 896 7.79 Threat 617 5.37 Malicious destruction of property 503 4.38 Exposing goods for sale 468 4.07 Possession of ganja 369 3.21 36 THE CHIEF JUSTICE’S QUARTERLY PARISH COURT REPORT ON CRIMINAL MATTERS Dealing in ganja Disorderly conduct Littering Resisting arrest 304 2.64 301 2.62 228 1.98 208 1.81 Illegal possession of firearm 198 1.72 The above table shows the distribution of the twelve most commonly occurring types of charges across all parish courts for the first quarter of 2018.
It is shown that assault occasioning bodily harm with 1811 or 15.75% of the total number of charges is the most frequently occurring.

This was followed by unlawful wounding with 937 or 8.15% and possession of offensive weapon with 896 or 7.79%.

The top five is rounded off by threat with 617 or 5.37% and malicious destruction of property with 503 or 4.38% of the total count of charges filed in the parish courts during the quarter.
These twelve most frequently occurring types of charges account for approximately 60% of the total incidence of charges in the quarter.

37 THE CHIEF JUSTICE’S QUARTERLY PARISH COURT REPORT ON CRIMINAL MATTERS The tables below provide a detailed breakdown of the proportional utilization of courtrooms and outstations in all parish courts and thus provides great insights into utilization rates and opportunities for further optimization.
Table 14.1: Aggregate case statistics for each courtroom and outstation in the Parish of Westmoreland for the quarter of ended March 31 2018 Courtroom/ Outstation Number of new cases filed in the quarter Number of inactive cases (of those originating in the month) Number of cases disposed (of those originating in the quarter) Proportion of new cases (%) Case Disposal Rate (%) Courtroom#1 (main court) Night Court (main court) Whithorn Outstation Petty Session (main court) Whithorn Outstation (Petty Session) Courtroom#2 (main court) Courtroom#3 (main court) Total/Average 199 136 46 39 13 12 3 74 112 21 17 3 8 1 9 17 4 4 - - - 448 236 34 44.42 41.71 30.36 10.27 8.71 2.90 2.68 0.67 100 94.85 54.35 53.85 23.08 66.67 33.33 60.27 Note: Main court refers to the location of the primary administrative court operations in the parish The above table summarizes the distribution of the movement of cases filed in the first quarter ended March 31, 2018 at the Westmoreland Parish Court.
In particular, it compares 38 THE CHIEF JUSTICE’S QUARTERLY PARISH COURT REPORT ON CRIMINAL MATTERS the relative proportions of new cases filed, which are accounted for by the different courtrooms and outstations in the parish, and outlines the applicable disposal rates.

The table separates Petty Session and Night Court maters heard in each of the relevant locations, for ease of comparison.
The data shows decisively that matters entered in courtroom number 1 and the Night Court in Savanna La Mar accounts for the highest share of new cases heard in the quarter with 199 (44.42%) and 136 (30.36%) matters respectively.

The Whithorn Outstation with 46 or 10.27% of the new matters heard in the parish rank next.
In terms of cases disposed, the Night Court sittings in Savanna La Mar accounts for the highest absolute share of matters disposed and had the highest disposal rate for the quarter with a rate of 94.85%.

Courtroom 2 with a disposal rate of 66.67% and the Whithorn outstation with a rate of 54.35% rounds off the highest disposal rates.
The single outstation in Westmoreland accounted for 13.17% of the total number of new cases heard in the quarter, with the main courthouse accounting for the remaining 86.83%.
39 THE CHIEF JUSTICE’S QUARTERLY PARISH COURT REPORT ON CRIMINAL MATTERS Table 14.2: Aggregate case statistics for each courtroom and outstation in the Corporate Area for the quarter of ended March 31 2018 Courtroom/Outstation Number of new cases filed in the quarter Number of cases disposed (of those originating in the quarter) Number of inactive cases (of those originating in the month) Proportion of total new cases (%) Case Disposal Rate (%) 72.79 69.67 Courtroom #2 (main court) Petty Session Court (main court) Night Court (main court) Courtroom #1 (main court) Courtroom #4 (main court) Courtroom #6 (main court) Courtroom #3 (main court) Gordon Town outstation Courtroom #5 (main court) Courtroom #7 (main court) Drug Court (main court) Plea and Case Management Court (main court) Courtroom # 8 (main court) Total/Average 1220 118 82 48 48 34 33 28 26 25 6 6 3 580 30 9 20 18 4 8 6 7 - - - 1 270 26 2 1 - - 2 9 2 1 2 - - 1676 683 315 7.04 4.89 2.86 2.86 2.03 1.97 1.67 1.55 1.49 0.36 0.36 0.18 100 Note: Main court refers to the location of the primary administrative court operations in the parish 47.46 13.42 43.75 37.50 11.76 30.30 53.57 34.62 4.00 33.33 - 33.33 59.55 40 THE CHIEF JUSTICE’S QUARTERLY PARISH COURT REPORT ON CRIMINAL MATTERS The above table summarizes the distribution of the movement of cases filed in the first quarter ended March 31, 2018 at the Corporate Area Court – Criminal Division.
In particular, it compares the relative proportions of new cases filed, which are accounted for by the different courtrooms and outstations in the parish, and outlines the applicable disposal rates.

It is seen that courtroom number two accounts for the highest proportion of new cases filed in the quarter with 72.79% of the total.

The Petty Sessions Court with roughly 7% follows this and the Night Court with 4.89%, rounding off the top three accommodations for new cases filed in the quarter.
In terms of disposal rates, the data shows that the courtroom number 2 with a disposal rates of 69.67% and the Gordon Town outstation with 53.79% account for the highest disposal rates.

Courtroom number 1 with 43.75% rounds off the top three rates of disposal over the period.

Courtroom number 2 accounts for the largest absolute share of cases disposed in the quarter with 580 matters.

The main courthouse in Half Way Tree accounted for 98.3% of the total number of new matters heard in the first quarter.
41 THE CHIEF JUSTICE’S QUARTERLY PARISH COURT REPORT ON CRIMINAL MATTERS Table 14.3: Aggregate case statistics for each courtroom and outstation in the Parish of St. James for the quarter of ended March 31 2018 Courtroom/Outstation Number of new cases filed in the quarter Number of cases disposed (of those originating in the quarter) Number of inactive cases (of those originating in the month) Proportion of total new cases (%) Case Disposal Rate (%) Courtroom#2 (main court) Courtroom#4(main court) Courtroom #3 (main court) Cambridge Outstation Courtroom#1(main court) 283 243 52 39 13 6 24 36 5 5 *Total/Average 393 313 *These figures represent samples 33 28 3 - 1 65 72.01 13.23 9.92 3.31 1.53 100 97.53 100 100 38.46 100 57.88 Note: Main court refers to the location of the primary administrative court operations in the parish The above table summarizes the distribution of the movement of cases filed in the first quarter ended March 31, 2018 at the St. James Parish Court.
In particular, it compares the relative proportions of new cases filed, which are accounted for by the different courtrooms and outstations in the parish, and outlines the disposal rates of the various courtrooms and outstations.

From the sample, courtroom number 2 at the main court in Montego Bay accounts for the highest share of new cases heard with 72.01%, followed by courtrooms number 4 and 3 with 13.23% and 9.92% respectively of the total number.
The data also suggests that the Cambridge outstation has a substantially lower disposal rate that the main court in Montego Bay, however the sample size for this outstation is not large enough to make 42 THE CHIEF JUSTICE’S QUARTERLY PARISH COURT REPORT ON CRIMINAL MATTERS wholesale generalisations in this regard.

From the sample data, the main courthouse in Montego Bay accounts for 96.69% of the new cases heard in the quarter.
Table 14.4: Aggregate case statistics for each courtroom and outstation in the Parish of St. Catherine for the quarter of ended March 31 2018 Courtroom/Outstation Number of new cases filed in the quarter Number of cases disposed (of those originating in the quarter) Number of inactive cases (of those originating in the month) Proportion of new cases (%) Case Disposal Rate (%) 41.06 49.76 Courtroom#1 (main court) Linstead Outstation courtroom #1 Old Harbour Outstation Petty Session (Main Court) Courtroom#2 (main court) Portmore Outstation Courtroom#4 (main court) Portmore Outstation (Night Court) Linstead Outstation courtroom#2 Courtroom#3 (main court) Old Harbour Outstation (Petty Session) Courtroom#5 (main court) Total/Average - 2 - 1018 468 102 100.00 Note: Main court refers to the location of the primary administrative court operations in the parish 30.45 6.19 5.89 4.13 3.05 2.55 2.55 1.38 1.08 1.08 0.59 66.13 69.84 50.00 54.76 18.75 42.31 85.00 68.42 45.45 45.45 50.00 55.99 43 THE CHIEF JUSTICE’S QUARTERLY PARISH COURT REPORT ON CRIMINAL MATTERS The above table summarizes the distribution of the movement of cases filed in the first quarter ended March 31, 2018 at the St. Catherine Parish Court.
In particular, it compares the relative proportions of new cases filed, which are accounted for by the different courtrooms and outstations in the parish, and outlines the applicable disposal rates.

The table separates Petty Session and Night Court matters for the relevant locations for ease of comparisons.
The data shows decisively that matters entered in Courtroom number 1 at the main court in Spanish Town and the Linstead outstation (courtroom #1) accounts for the highest share of new cases heard in the quarter with 41.06% and 30.45% respectively.

The Old Harbour outstation with 6.19% of the new cases heard ranks next.
In terms of cases disposed, the Linstead outstation (courtroom 2) accounts for the highest absolute share of matters disposed with 192 matters and had the fourth highest disposal rate of 49.76%.

The Night Court at the Portmore Outstation has the highest disposal rate with 85%, followed by the Old Harbour Outstation and Linstead Outstation (courtroom 2) with disposal rates of 69.84% and 68.42% respectively.
Evidently, the outstations in St. Catherine not only carry a significant new caseload but also appear to be quite productive with the disposition of cases.

The main courthouse in Spanish Town accounted for 55.30% of the total number of new cases heard in the quarter and the outstations combined accounted for the remaining 44.70%.
44 THE CHIEF JUSTICE’S QUARTERLY PARISH COURT REPORT ON CRIMINAL MATTERS 14.5: Aggregate case statistics for each courtroom and outstation in the Parish of St. Thomas for the quarter of ended March 31 2018 Outstation Number of new cases filed in the quarter Number of cases disposed (of those originating in the quarter) Number of inactive cases (of those originating in the month) Proportion of new cases (%) Case Disposal Rate (%) Courtroom#1 (main 183 court) Yallahs Outstation Children’s Court Courtroom#2 (main court) Night Court (main court) Yallahs outstation (Petty Session) Total/Average 52 30 29 9 1 88 24 12 16 - - - 1 - - - - 1 60.20 17.11 9.87 9.54 2.96 0.33 100 48.09 48.08 40.00 55.17 - 46.38 304 140 Note: Main court refers to the location of the primary administrative court operations in the parish The above table summarizes the distribution of the movement of cases filed in the first quarter ended March 31, 2018 at the St. Thomas Parish Court.
The data shows decisively that matters entered in Courtroom number 1 at the main court in Morant Bay and the Yallahs Outstation accounts for the highest share of new cases heard in the quarter with 60.20% and 17.11% respectively.

Courtroom number 1 accounts for the highest absolute share of cases disposed with 88 matters and the second highest disposal rate of 48.09%.
Courtroom number 2 at the main court and the Yallahs Outstation with disposal rates of 55.17% and 48.08% respectively accounts for the first and third highest disposal rates respectively.

The main 45 THE CHIEF JUSTICE’S QUARTERLY PARISH COURT REPORT ON CRIMINAL MATTERS courthouse in Morant Bay accounted for 82.57% of the total number of new cases heard in quarter.
Table 14.6: Aggregate case statistics for each courtroom and outstation in the Parish of Trelawny for the quarter of ended March 31 2018 Courtroom/Outstation Number of new cases filed in the quarter Number of cases disposed (of those originating in the quarter) Number of inactive cases (of those originating in the month) Proportion of total new cases (%) Case Disposal Rate (%) Falmouth Court Ulster Spring outstation Clarks Town (Children’s Court) Falmouth (Petty Session) Courtroom#1 (main court) Ulster Spring (Petty Session) Clarks Town (Petty Session) Falmouth (Night Court) Clarks Town Outstation (Courtroom #1) Total/Average 204 34 19 14 12 6 5 2 1 104 10 4 2 5 - 2 1 - 328 136 - - - 2 - 1 1 - - 4 61.89 10.37 5.79 4.27 3.66 1.83 1.52 0.61 0.30 51.23 29.41 21.05 28.57 41.67 16.67 60.00 50.00 - 42.68 Note: Main court refers to the location of the primary administrative court operations in the parish The above table summarizes the distribution of the movement of cases filed in the first quarter ended March 31, 2018 at the Trelawny Parish Court.
The data shows decisively that matters entered in the Falmouth court and the Ulster Spring Outstation accounts for the highest share of new cases heard in the quarter, with 61.89% and 10.37% respectively.

The 46 THE CHIEF JUSTICE’S QUARTERLY PARISH COURT REPORT ON CRIMINAL MATTERS Falmouth Court accounts for the highest absolute share of cases disposed with 104 matters and one of the highest disposal rates.
Though the absolute numbers are proportionately low, the petty session sittings in Clarks Town and Falmouth Night Court rank among the highest disposal rates for the parish in the quarter with 60% and 50% respectively.

The outstations aside from the Falmouth courthouse accounts for 20.44% of the new cases heard in the quarter, with Falmouth and Duncans combined accounted for 79.56% of the total.
Table 14.7: Aggregate case statistics for each outstation in the Parish of St. Mary for the quarter of ended March 31 2018 Courtroom/Outstation Number of new cases filed in the quarter Number of inactive cases (of those originating in the month) Number of cases disposed (of those originating in the quarter) Proportion of total new cases (%) Case Disposal Rate (%) Courtroom#1 (main court) Courtroom#2 (main court) Annotto Bay Outstation Petty Session (main court) Night Court (main court) Richmond Outstation Children’s Court Gayle Outstation Richmond Outstation (Petty Session) 107 39 37 36 23 21 14 8 2 30 10 12 25 3 1 - 1 - 28 37.15 54.21 - 4 - 3 4 1 - - 13.54 12.85 12.50 7.99 7.29 4.86 2.78 0.69 25.64 43.24 69.44 26.09 23.81 7.14 12.50 - 47 THE CHIEF JUSTICE’S QUARTERLY PARISH COURT REPORT ON CRIMINAL MATTERS Annotto Bay Outstation (Petty Session) Total/Average 1 288 - 82 - 40 0.35 100 - 42.36 Note: Main court refers to the location of primary court operations in the parish.
The above table summarizes the distribution of new cases filed, disposed and inactive across the various courtrooms and outstations in the parish of St. Mary in the first quarter ended March 31, 2018.

The data shows decisively that courtrooms number 1 and 2 at the main court in Port Maria account for the highest share of new matters heard in the quarter, with 37.15% and 13.54% respectively of the total.

The Annotto Bay outstation with 12.85% of the new cases heard in the quarter rank next.
In terms of cases disposed, courtroom number 1 in Port Maria accounts for the highest absolute share of cases disposed with 30 matters and had the second highest case disposal rate.

Petty Session sittings in Port Maria and the Annotto Bay outstation with disposal rates of 69.44% and 43.41% respectively also rank among the top three disposal rates.
The outstations in the parish account for a combined 26% of the total number of new cases heard in the quarter while the main courthouse accounts for roughly 74%.
48 THE CHIEF JUSTICE’S QUARTERLY PARISH COURT REPORT ON CRIMINAL MATTERS Table 14.8: Aggregate case statistics for each courtroom and outstation in the Parish of Portland for the quarter of ended March 31 2018 Courtroom/Outstation Number of new cases filed in the quarter Number of cases disposed (of those originating in the quarter) Number of inactive cases (of those originating in the month) Proportion of new cases (%) Case Disposal Rate (%) Courtroom#1 (main court) Buff Bay Outstation Manchioneal Outstation Children’s Court Courtroom#2 (main court) Courtroom#3 (main court) Total/Average 173 49 41 13 5 5 286 52 15 27 3 - - 97 8 6 6 - - - 20 60.49 17.13 14.34 4.55 1.75 1.75 34.68 42.86 80.49 23.08 - - 40.91 Note: Main court refers to the location of the primary administrative court operations in the parish The above table summarizes the distribution of new cases filed, disposed and inactive across the various courtrooms and outstations in the parish of Portland in the first quarter ended March 31, 2018.
The data shows decisively that courtroom number 1 at the main court in Port Antonio accounts for the highest share of new matters heard in the quarter, with 60.49% of the total.

Buff Bay and Manchioneal Outstations with 17.13% and 14.34% respectively of the total number of the new cases heard in the quarter rank next.
In terms of cases disposed, courtroom number 1 in Port Antonio accounts for the highest absolute share of matters disposed with 52 matters and had the third highest case disposal rate of 34.68%.

The Manchioneal Outstation with a disposal rate of 80.49% and the Buff Bay outstation with a rate of 42.86% completes the top three on this measure.
The outstations in Portland account for 49 THE CHIEF JUSTICE’S QUARTERLY PARISH COURT REPORT ON CRIMINAL MATTERS a combined 31.47% of the new cases heard in the quarter while the main courthouse in Port Antonio accounts for the remaining 68.53%.
Table 14.9: Aggregate case statistics for each courtroom and outstation in the Parish of Hanover for the quarter of ended March 31, 2018 Courtroom/Outstation Number of new cases filed in the quarter Number of cases disposed (of those originating in the quarter) Number of cases inactive (of those originating in the month) Proportion of new cases (%) Case Disposal Rate (%) Courtroom #1 (main court) 111 Sandy Bay Outstation #1 Green Island (Night Court) Petty Session (main court) Ramble Outstation (Courtroom #1) Sandy Bay (Petty Session) Courtroom #2 (main court) Green Island Outstation (Petty Session) Ramble Outstation (Petty Session) Ramble Outstation (Courtroom #2) Total/Average 44 26 22 20 12 10 10 2 2 50 17 10 7 11 2 4 3 - - 42.86 16.99 10.04 8.49 7.72 4.63 3.86 3.86 0.78 0.78 - - - - - - - - - - - 45.05 38.64 38.46 31.82 55 16.67 40 30 - - 40.15 259 104 Note: Main court refers to the location of the primary administrative court operations in the parish The above table summarizes the distribution of new cases filed, disposed and inactive across the various courtrooms and outstations in the parish of Hanover in the first quarter ended 50 THE CHIEF JUSTICE’S QUARTERLY PARISH COURT REPORT ON CRIMINAL MATTERS March 31, 2018.
The data shows decisively that courtrooms number 1 at the main court in Lucea accounts for the highest share of new matters heard in the quarter, with 42.86% of the total.

Courtroom number 1 at the Sandy Bay Outstation and the Night Court in Greenisland with 16.99% and 10.04% respectively rank next.

In terms of cases disposed, courtroom number 1 in Lucea accounts for the highest absolute share of matters disposed with 111 matters and had the highest case disposal rate of 45.05%.
The Sandy Bay Outstation with a disposal rate of 8% and the Green Island Night Court with a rate of 38.46% completes the top three on this measure.

The outstations in the parish account for roughly 45% of the new cases heard during the quarter while the main courthouse accounts for the remaining 55%.
51 THE CHIEF JUSTICE’S QUARTERLY PARISH COURT REPORT ON CRIMINAL MATTERS Table 14.10: Aggregate case statistics for each courtroom and outstation in the Parish of St. Elizabeth for the quarter of ended March 31 2018 Courtroom/Outstation Number of new cases filed in the quarter Number of cases disposed (of those originating in the quarter) Number of inactive cases (of those originating in the month) Proportion of new cases (%) Case Disposal Rate (%) 19 54.14 47.22 Santa Cruz Outstation (Courtroom number #1) Courtroom#2 (main court) Santa Cruz Outstation (Courtroom #2) Balaclava (Courtroom #1) Santa Cruz (Petty Session) Courtroom #1 (main court) Santa Cruz (Children’s Court) Balaclava (Courtroom #2) Petty Session (main court) Courtroom#3 (main court) Balaclava (Petty Session) Total/Average 216 36 30 29 27 24 17 5 9 3 3 83 18 10 5 - 7 1 3 1 - - 4 3 1 1 - 1 - - - - 9.02 7.52 7.27 6.77 6.02 4.26 1.25 2.26 0.75 0.75 61.11 43.33 20.69 3.70 29.17 11.76 60.00 11.11 - - 39.35 399 128 29 Note: Main court refers to the location of the primary court operations in the parish The above table summarizes the distribution of new cases filed, disposed and inactive across the various courtrooms and outstations in the parish of St. Elizabeth in the first quarter ended 52 THE CHIEF JUSTICE’S QUARTERLY PARISH COURT REPORT ON CRIMINAL MATTERS March 31, 2018.
The data shows decisively that courtroom number 1 at the Santa Cruz outstation accounted for highest share of new matters heard in the quarter, with 54.14% of the total.

Courtroom number 2 at the main court in Black River and courtroom number 2 at the Santa Cruz outstation accounts for the next highest shares of new cases heard in the quarter with 9.02% and 7.52% respectively of the total.
In terms of cases disposed, courtroom number 1 at the Santa Cruz outstation accounts for the highest absolute share of matters disposed with 83 matters and had the third highest case disposal rate of 47.22%.

Courtroom 2 at the main court in Black River and at the Balaclava Outstation (courtroom #2) have the next highest disposal rates with 61.11% and 60% respectively.
The Santa Cruz Outstation accounts for the highest proportion of new cases heard in the quarter with 72.68% while the main courthouse in Black River accounts for roughly 15%.

The remaining 12.32% is accounted for the other outstation courts.
Table 14.11: Aggregate case statistics for each outstation in the Parish of St. Ann for the quarter of ended March 31 2018 Courtroom/Outstation Number of new cases filed in the quarter Number of cases disposed (of those originating in the quarter) Number of inactive cases (of those originating in the month) Proportion of new cases (%) Case Disposal Rate (%) ST.ANN’S BAY Courtroom #1 (main court) Petty Session (main court) Claremont Outstation 294 69 27 62 9 10 37 26 1 51.04 33.67 11.98 4.69 50.72 40.74 53 THE CHIEF JUSTICE’S QUARTERLY PARISH COURT REPORT ON CRIMINAL MATTERS Children’s Court - Claremont Claremont outstation BROWNS TOWN Courtroom #1 Petty Session Children’s Court 11 5 116 42 12 1 1 26 1 2 4 1 22 15 3 1.91 0.87 20.14 7.29 2.08 Total/Average 576 112 109 Note: Main court refers to the location of the primary court operations in the parish 45.45 40.00 41.38 38.10 41.67 38.37 The above table summarizes the distribution of new cases filed, disposed and inactive across the various courtrooms and outstations in the parish of St. Ann in the first quarter ended March 31, 2018.
The data shows that courtroom 1 in both St. Ann’s Bay (the main court) and Browns Town account for the largest shares of new cases heard in the quarter with 51.04% and 20.14% respectively of the total.

The Petty Session Court in St. Ann’s Bay accounts for the third largest share of new cases heard with 11.98%.
In terms of cases disposed, courtroom number 1 at the St. Ann’s Bay Parish Court accounts for the highest absolute share of matters disposed with 62 matters and had the lowest case disposal rate of 33.67%.

Petty Session matters heard in St. Ann’s Bay with a 50.72% disposal rate and Children’s Court in the Claremont Outstation with a rate of 45.45% accounts for the highest disposal rates in the quarter.
As a whole, the Brown’s Town court accounted for approximately 30% of the new cases filed in the parish of St. Ann during the quarter.

The St. Ann’s Bay courthouse accounts for 63% of the new cases heard in the quarter while the outstations apart from Brown’s Town account for approximately 7% of the total.
54 THE CHIEF JUSTICE’S QUARTERLY PARISH COURT REPORT ON CRIMINAL MATTERS Table 14.12: Aggregate case statistics for each courtroom/outstation in the Parish of Clarendon for the quarter of ended March 31 2018 Courtroom/Outstation Number of new cases filed in the quarter Number of cases disposed (of those originating in the quarter) Number of inactive cases (of those originating in the month) Proportion of total new cases (%) Case Disposal Rate (%) Courtroom#1 (main court) Lionel Town outstation Courtroom#2 (main court) Chapleton outstation *Unassigned Petty Session (main court) Children’s Court (main court) Frankfield Outstation Night Court (main court) 171 74 72 64 60 50 31 23 17 62 23 19 23 1 23 - 1 8 7 1 18 1 1 9 1 1 - Total/Average 562 160 39 Note: Main court refers to the location of the primary court operations in the parish *No data available on courtroom/outstation assignment 30.43 13.17 12.81 11.39 10.68 8.90 5.52 4.09 3.02 40.35 32.43 51.39 37.50 3.33 64.00 3.23 8.70 47.06 35.41 The above table summarizes the distribution of new cases filed, disposed and inactive across the various courtrooms and outstations in the parish of Clarendon in the first quarter ended March 31, 2018.
The available data shows decisively that courtroom number 1 in May Pen accounted for highest share of new matters heard in the quarter, with 30.43% of the total.

The Lionel Town Outstation and courtroom number 1 in May Pen accounts for the next 55 THE CHIEF JUSTICE’S QUARTERLY PARISH COURT REPORT ON CRIMINAL MATTERS highest shares of new cases heard in the quarter with 13.17% and 12.81% respectively of the total.
In terms of cases disposed, courtroom number 1 in May Pen accounts for the highest absolute share of matters disposed with 62 matters and had the fourth highest case disposal rate of 40.35%.

Petty Session sittings in May Pen with a disposal rate of 64% and Courtroom number 2 in May Pen with a disposal rate of 51.39% have the highest disposal rates in the parish.
An estimated 29% of new cases heard in Clarendon during the first quarter occurred in the outstation locations with the remaining 71% taking place in the main court in May Pen.

This estimate has a margin of error of plus or minus 5%.
Table 13.13: Aggregate case statistics for each courtroom and outstation in the Parish of Manchester for the quarter of ended March 31 2018 Courtroom/Outstation Number of new cases filed in the quarter Courtroom#1 (main court) Courtroom#2 (main court) Petty Session (main court) Christiana Outstation Spalding Outstation Christiana (Petty Session) Tax Court (main court) Porus (main court) Cross Keys (main court) Spalding(Petty Session) Porus (Children’s Court) Cottage Outstation Porus (Petty Session) Courtroom #3 (main court) 133 111 108 85 45 26 25 22 18 14 14 9 8 8 Number of cases disposed (of those originating in the quarter) 22 23 54 46 8 10 1 2 2 9 - - 2 - Number of inactive cases(of those originating in the month) Proportion of total new cases (%) Case Disposal Rate (%) 9 9 13 5 3 - 4 - - 2 1 - - - 20.09 17.16 16.69 13.14 6.96 4.02 3.86 3.40 2.78 2.16 2.16 1.39 1.24 1.24 23.08 28.33 62.04 60.00 24.44 38.46 20.00 9.09 11.11 78.57 7.14 - 25.00 - 56 THE CHIEF JUSTICE’S QUARTERLY PARISH COURT REPORT ON CRIMINAL MATTERS Drug treatment Court (main court) Cross Keys Outstation (Petty Session) Children’s Court (main court) Night Court (main court) Cottage (Petty Session) Total/Average 5 5 4 4 3 647 - - - 3 - 182 - 3 - - - 42 0.77 0.77 0.62 0.62 0.46 - 60.00 - 75.00 - 34.62 Note: Main court refers to the location of the primary administrative court operations in the parish The above table summarizes the distribution of new cases filed, disposed and inactive across the various courtrooms and outstations in the parish of Manchester in the first quarter ended March 31, 2018.
The data shows that courtroom number 1 in Mandeville accounted for highest share of new matters heard in the quarter, with 20.09% of the total.

Courtroom number 2 and the Petty Session sittings in Mandeville accounts for the next highest shares of new cases heard in the quarter with 17.16% and 16.69% respectively of the total.
In terms of cases disposed, Petty Session sittings at the main court in Mandeville accounts for the highest absolute share of cases disposed with 54 matters and had the third highest case disposal rate of roughly 62%.

Petty Session sittings in May Pen with a disposal rate of 64% and Courtroom number 2 in May Pen with a disposal rate of 51.39% have the highest disposal rates in the parish.
Though not statistically significant based on the low absolute counts, Petty Session sittings in Spaulding and Night Court sittings at the main court in Mandeville had the highest disposal rates of 78.57% and 75% respectively.

The main courthouse in Mandeville accounts for 65% of the total number of new cases heard in the quarter while the remaining 35% were accounted for by the various outstations.
57 THE CHIEF JUSTICE’S QUARTERLY PARISH COURT REPORT ON CRIMINAL MATTERS The below subsection will provide graphical display and brief narratives on the distribution of charges filed in each parish court, by the police stations at which the matters were reported.

This provides a crude proxy of the distribution of criminal offences in each parish.
Chart 3.0: Distribution of criminal offences by the police station of origin at the Manchester Parish Court for the quarter ended March 31, 2018 40.00 32.19% 20.00 0.00 13.71% 12.00% 9.33% 5.62% 3.24% 2.76% 2.57% The above chart shows the distribution of crimes at the Manchester Parish Court using the police stations at which the matters were reported.
The data available from 1050 records indicate that for the January to March quarter, 2018 the majority of criminal matters, 32.19%, which were brought before the Court, were reported in Mandeville Police Station.

This was followed by the Parish Council, which accounts for 13.71% of total matters reported.

The Christiana Police rounded off the top three with 12%.

This data provides important insights into the geographical distribution of criminal offences committed in the Parish.
58 THE CHIEF JUSTICE’S QUARTERLY PARISH COURT REPORT ON CRIMINAL MATTERS Chart 3.1: Distribution of criminal offences by the police station of origin at the Clarendon Parish Court for the quarter ended March 31, 2018 39% 24% 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 10% 8% 6% 5% 4% 2% 1% The above chart shows the distribution of crimes at the Clarendon Parish Court using the police stations at which the matters were reported.
The data available from 150 records indicate that for the January to March quarter, 2018 the majority of criminal matters, 39%, which were brought before the Court were reported in May Pen Police Station.

This was followed by the Four Paths Police Station, which accounts for 24% of total matters reported.

The top three was rounded off by the Lionel Town Police with 10%.

This data provides important insights into the geographical distribution of criminal offences committed in the Parish.
59 THE CHIEF JUSTICE’S QUARTERLY PARISH COURT REPORT ON CRIMINAL MATTERS Chart 3.2: Distribution of criminal offences by the police station of origin at the St. Catherine Parish Court for the quarter ended March 31, 2018 25.35% 22.26% 30.00 25.00 20.00 15.00 10.00 5.00 0.00 7.16% 6.25% 5.94% 3.52% 2.61% 2.55% 2.37% 2.18% The above chart shows the distribution of crimes at the St. Catherine Parish Court using the police stations at which the matters were reported.
The data available from 1649 records indicate that for the January to March quarter, 2018 the majority of criminal matters, 25.35%, which were brought before the Court, were reported in Spanish Town Police Station.

This was followed by the Linstead Town Police Station, which accounts for 22.26% of total matters reported.

The top three was rounded off by the Portmore Police with 7.16%.

This data provides important insights into the geographical distribution of criminal offences committed in the Parish.
60 THE CHIEF JUSTICE’S QUARTERLY PARISH COURT REPORT ON CRIMINAL MATTERS Chart 3.3: Distribution of criminal offences by the police station of origin at the St. Thomas Parish Court for the quarter ended March 31, 2018 70.00 60.00 50.00 40.00 30.00 20.00 10.00 0.00 61.69% 11.90% 7.58% Morant Bay Yallahs Seaforth 3.68% 3.03% 2.60% 2.16% 1.08% Trinityville Golden Grove Port Morant golden Grove Golden Grove, Bath & Port Morant The above chart shows the distribution of crimes at the St. Thomas Parish Court using the police stations at which the matters were reported.
The data available from 462 records indicate that for the January to March quarter, 2018 the majority of criminal matters, 61.69%, which were brought before the Court, were reported in Morant Bay Police Station.

This was followed by the Yallahs Police Station, which accounts for 11.90% of total matters reported.

The Seaforth Police rounded off the top three with 7.58%.

This data provides important insights into the geographical distribution of criminal offences committed in the Parish.
61 THE CHIEF JUSTICE’S QUARTERLY PARISH COURT REPORT ON CRIMINAL MATTERS Chart 3.4: Distribution of criminal offences by the police station of origin at the Portland Parish Court for the quarter ended March 31, 2018 34.96% 22.57% 35.00 30.00 25.00 20.00 15.00 10.00 5.00 0.00 11.50% 7.52% 6.19% 5.75% 3.98% 3.54% 2.21% 1.33% The above chart shows the distribution of crimes at the Portland Parish Court using the police stations at which the matters were reported.
The data available from 226 records indicate that for the January to March quarter, 2018 the majority of criminal matters, 34.96%, which were brought before the Court, were reported in Port Antonio Police Station.

This was followed by the Buff Bay Police Station, which accounts for 22.57% of total matters reported.

The Manchioneal Police rounded off the top three with 11.50%.

This data provides important insights into the geographical distribution of criminal offences committed in the Parish.
62 THE CHIEF JUSTICE’S QUARTERLY PARISH COURT REPORT ON CRIMINAL MATTERS Chart 3.5: Distribution of criminal offences by the police station of origin at the St. Mary Parish Court for the quarter ended March 31, 2018 30.00 25.00 20.00 15.00 10.00 5.00 0.00 24.69% 21.66% 9.82% 7.05% 6.30% 6.05% 5.54% 3.78% 3.02% 2.52% 3.53% 1.76% 1.26% 1.01% 1.76% The above chart shows the distribution of crimes at the St. Mary Parish Court using the police stations at which the matters were reported.
The data available from 397 records indicate that for the January to March quarter, 2018 the majority of criminal matters, 24.69%, which were brought before the Court, were reported in Port Maria Police Station.

This was followed by the Annotto Bay Police Station, which accounts for 21.66% of total matters reported.

The Oracabessa Police rounded off the top three with 9.82%.

This data provides important insights into the geographical distribution of criminal offences committed in the Parish.
63 THE CHIEF JUSTICE’S QUARTERLY PARISH COURT REPORT ON CRIMINAL MATTERS Chart 3.6: Distribution of criminal offences by the police station of origin at the St. James Parish Court for the quarter ended March 31, 2018 33.42% 35.00 30.00 25.00 20.00 15.00 10.00 5.00 0.00 15.28% 10.62% 6.74% 5.18% 3.89% 3.37% 2.33% 1.81% 1.55% The above chart shows the distribution of crimes at the St. James Parish Court using the police stations at which the matters were reported.
The data available from 386 records indicate that for the January to March quarter, 2018 the majority of criminal matters, 33.42%, which were brought before the Court, were reported in Barnett Street Police Station.

This was followed by the Montego Bay Police Station, which accounts for 15.28% of total matters reported.

The St. James Municipal Cooperation rounded off the top three with 10.62%.
This data provides important insights into the geographical distribution of criminal offences committed in the Parish.
64 THE CHIEF JUSTICE’S QUARTERLY PARISH COURT REPORT ON CRIMINAL MATTERS Chart 3.7: Distribution of criminal offences by the police station of origin at the Corporate Area Criminal Parish Court for the quarter ended March 31, 2018 12.00 11.89% 10.00 8.00 6.00 4.00 2.00 0.00 11.71% 8.52% 8.08% 7.93% 8.34% 4.63% 3.52%3.19% 2.96% 2.82% 2.33% 2.37% 2.00% 1.48% 1.41% 0.96% The above chart shows the distribution of crimes at the Corporate Area Parish Court using the police stations at which the matters were reported.
The data available from 2699 records indicate that for the January to March quarter, 2018 the majority of criminal matters, 11.89%, which were brought before the Court, were reported in Kingston Central Police Station.

This was followed by the Kingston West Police Station, which accounts for 11.71% of total matters reported.

The top three was rounded off by the St. Ann North Police with 8.52%.
This data provides important insights into the geographical distribution of criminal offences committed in the Parish.
65 THE CHIEF JUSTICE’S QUARTERLY PARISH COURT REPORT ON CRIMINAL MATTERS Chart 3.8: Distribution of criminal offences by the police station of origin at the Westmoreland Parish Court for the quarter ended March 31, 2018 24.16% 21.82% 19.18% 25.00 20.00 15.00 10.00 5.00 0.00 6.30% 6.15% 3.95% 3.95% 3.81% 3.37% 1.90% 1.17% The above chart shows the distribution of crimes at the Westmoreland Parish Court using the police stations at which the matters were reported.
The data available from 683 records indicate that for the January to March quarter, 2018 the majority of criminal matters, 24.16%, which were brought before the Court, were reported in Narcotics Division Area 1 station.

This was followed by the Negril Police Station, which accounts for 21.82% of total matters reported.

The top three was rounded off by the Savanna la mar Police with 19.18%.
This data provides important insights into the geographical distribution of criminal offences committed in the Parish.
66 THE CHIEF JUSTICE’S QUARTERLY PARISH COURT REPORT ON CRIMINAL MATTERS Chart 3.9: Distribution of criminal offences by the police station of origin at the Hanover Parish Court for the quarter ended March 31, 2018 32.51% 35.00 30.00 25.00 20.00 15.00 10.00 5.00 0.00 19.43% 14.13% 12.72% 10.25% 5.65% 2.83% 1.06% Lucea Sandy Bay Green Island Ramble Hanover Divisional HQ Kingsvale Mobile Reserve Lottery Scam Task Force The above chart shows the distribution of crimes at the Hanover Parish Court using the police stations at which the matters were reported.
The data available from 283 records indicate that for the January to March quarter, 2018 the majority of criminal matters, 32.51%, which were brought before the Court, were reported in Lucea Police Station.

This was followed by the Sandy Bay Police Station, which accounts for 19.43% of total matters reported.

The Green Island Police rounded off the top three with 14.13%.

This data provides important insights into the geographical distribution of criminal offences committed in the Parish.
67 THE CHIEF JUSTICE’S QUARTERLY PARISH COURT REPORT ON CRIMINAL MATTERS Chart 3.10: Distribution of criminal offences by the police station of origin at the St. Elizabeth Parish Court for the quarter ended March 31, 2018 17.53% 13.85% 30.00 28.57% 25.00 20.00 15.00 10.00 5.00 0.00 8.66% 6.28% 5.84% 5.41% 4.76% 3.46% 3.25% 1.73% 0.65% The above chart shows the distribution of crimes at the St. Elizabeth Parish Court using the police stations at which the matters were reported.
The data available from 462 records indicate that for the January to March quarter, 2018 the majority of criminal matters, 28.57%, which were brought before the Court, were reported in Black River police station.

This was followed by the Santa Cruz Police Station, which accounts for 17.53% of total matters reported.

The Nain Police rounded off the top three with 13.85%.

This data provides important insights into the geographical distribution of criminal offences committed in the Parish.
68 THE CHIEF JUSTICE’S QUARTERLY PARISH COURT REPORT ON CRIMINAL MATTERS Chart 3.11: Distribution of criminal offences by the police station of origin at the St. Ann Parish Court for the quarter ended March 31, 2018 25.87% 19.81% 18.65% 30.00 25.00 20.00 15.00 10.00 5.00 0.00 9.32% 5.83% 4.20% 2.80% 2.33% The above chart shows the distribution of crimes at the St. Ann Parish Court using the police stations at which the matters were reported.
The data available from 429 records indicate that for the January to March quarter, 2018 the majority of criminal matters, 25.87%, which were brought before the Court, were reported in Ocho Rios Police Station.

This was followed by the Brown’s Town Police Station, which accounts for 19.81% of total matters reported.

The St. Ann’s Bay Police rounded off the top three with 18.65%.

This data provides important insights into the geographical distribution of criminal offences committed in the Parish.
69 THE CHIEF JUSTICE’S QUARTERLY PARISH COURT REPORT ON CRIMINAL MATTERS Chart 3.12: Distribution of criminal offences by the police station of origin at the Trelawny Parish Court for the quarter ended March 31, 2018 70.00 60.00 50.00 40.00 30.00 20.00 10.00 0.00 58.78% 10.31% 6.87% 6.87% 3.44% 3.05% 1.91% 1.53% Falmouth Clarks Town Duncans Ulster Spring Private Wait-A-Bit Wakefield NHT-Office Falmouth The above chart shows the distribution of crimes at the Trelawny Parish Court using the police stations at which the matters were reported.
The data available from 262 records indicate that for the January to March quarter, 2018 the majority of criminal matters, 58.78%, which were brought before the Court, were reported in Falmouth Police Station.

This was followed by the Clarks Town Police Station, which accounts for 10.31% of total matters reported.

The Duncan’s Police rounded off the top three with 6.87%.

This data provides important insights into the geographical distribution of criminal offences committed in the Parish.
70 THE CHIEF JUSTICE’S QUARTERLY PARISH COURT REPORT ON CRIMINAL MATTERS Conclusion This report provides a range of essential insights into criminal case activity in the parish courts for the first quarter ended March 31, 2017, representing a continuation of the trend in comprehensive and consistent reporting on criminal case activity in the parish courts.
A number of noteworthy findings have emerged from this report, some affirming the critical trends observed in 2017 and others indicative of new patterns.

They provide the basis for important policy and operational decisions.

Among these key findings is that there has been a notable increase in the overall criminal case clearance rate in the parish courts, increasing by an impressive 17.47 percentage points when compared to the first quarter of 2017.
This means that there were roughly 17 more cases been disposed for every 100 new cases in the first quarter of 2018.

This has undoubtedly had a positive impact on reducing the criminal case carriage in the parish courts by a slow but nonetheless incremental rate.

There has also been an improvement in the case disposal rate which climbed by 7.69 percentage points when compared to the first quarter of 2017.
It was also observed that the steady improvements in case disposition and case clearance rates across the parish courts have had a profound impact on reducing the pre-existing criminal case backlog, although much of these gains have been reversed by newer cases falling into backlog.
It is further impressive to note that eight of the thirteen parish courts exceeded the international benchmark of a minimum 90% clearance rate, the attainment of which is viewed as the critical foundation for both reducing and preventing case backlog.

Of these eight courts, four exceeded the 100% mark, led by the parish courts of Westmoreland and Portland, which was the biggest mover of the period on 71 THE CHIEF JUSTICE’S QUARTERLY PARISH COURT REPORT ON CRIMINAL MATTERS this measure.
The generally improved productivity of the courts can be attributed to the number of factors, including the strengthening of the case management process through the employment of case progression officers across the courts and the adoption of a data driven approach.

In all parish courts, data on the status of the criminal cases as well as key delay factors and complexity indicators are electronically available to multiple internal stakeholders by way of the Case Information Statistical System (CISS).
In reinforcement of the improved results on the case clearance and disposal rates was the finding that sample data on cases disposed over the past 15-18 months across the parish courts indicate that roughly 76% were disposed of in three months or less.

This statistically significant result is indicative of a generally sustained though modest improvements in the overall efficiency in the criminal case progression and productivity in the parish courts.
The data affirms that despite the improvements noted, mathematically all parish courts, based on current rates of disposal and the implied resource endowments are carrying higher caseloads than their existing capacities seem to suggest.

This was derived from the analysis of the case congestion rates.

The resource constraints faced by the courts are evident from these results; however, there are a number of critical delay factors, which must be addressed in order to improve efficiency.
Among these factors are the high incidence of adjournments, which increase the average time taken to dispose of cases and thus foster a sub-optimal use of judicial time.

Among the leading delay factors in this regard are incomplete files, outstanding medical reports and the non-appearance of parties for court.
Such factors invariably have a direct association with the incidence of mention and trial and thus trial and 72 THE CHIEF JUSTICE’S QUARTERLY PARISH COURT REPORT ON CRIMINAL MATTERS hearing date certainty, which tends to vary by parish court but overall falls short of the international standards.
It is critical that robust interventions be urgently pursued to engage the necessary stakeholders to redress those delay factors that are outside the court’s direct control, for example, outstanding medical certificates for which the Hospitals would be largely culpable and more decisive police action could militate against the frequency of the non- appearance of parties for court.
There are however many common reasons for adjournment over which the parish courts have some degree of direct control, such as matters adjourned due to the lack of readiness of files for court, matters left off court lists or matters wrongly listed for court.

These can be mitigated by a more robust system of scheduling matters for court and generally more robust case management practices.
RECOMMENDATIONS The nucleus of improved court performance lies in enhancing the strength of the case management process in the criminal courts.

This is necessary to ensure that more sound scheduling practices are employed and that the electronic and other monitoring mechanisms are fully utilized to ensure that the probability of cases lagging in the court system and entering backlog classification are substantially lessened.
As mentioned, a strong and direct engagement of external stakeholders, which are at least partly responsible for the lengthy and frequent delays in criminal matters are critical to the way forward.
Slow but steady strides are being made in improving the critical performance indicators such as the case clearance rates and trial credibility ratios; however, the system is still a long way from reaching a state 73 THE CHIEF JUSTICE’S QUARTERLY PARISH COURT REPORT ON CRIMINAL MATTERS of self-sustaining efficiency.

Bolstering the technical and human resources at the disposition of the courts is also vital in realising the desired advances in the near future.
Below are two strategies, which can be employed court wide in an effort to alter the status quo and create new paths to optimizing efficiency, subject to the existing constraints.

Firstly, I propose the employment of a Differentiated Case Management (DCM) mechanism.

Differentiated case management is a technique that courts can use to create an efficient, tight-fitting assignment of cases for judges based on the specific characteristics of each case, much like putting a jigsaw puzzle together.
By balancing complex cases that involve more time and resources with simpler cases that require less time and resources, a court can better utilize its judges and courtrooms.

The way this can work is that when a case is filed, a determination of the expected time to complete the case should be made.

Depending on the complexity of the case, it can be assigned to one of four tracks, from the least to most complex.

A less complex case would be assigned to an expedited track.
Cases in this track would have limited pre-trial deadlines and trials could possibly be set within 90 days of filing.

By contrast, the most complex cases would be assigned to an extended track, where the trial date was set at months away.

There could also two other intermediate tracks between the expedited and extended tracks, with varying trial date schedules.
This kind of approach could potentially enhance hearing/trial date certainty, improve courtroom utilization rates and over time significantly expedite the disposition of cases.

For this mechanism to work effectively, it is important that time standards/expected times for the disposition of cases of varying complexity be firmly established.
Backlog monitoring groups within each parish court, called 74 THE CHIEF JUSTICE’S QUARTERLY PARISH COURT REPORT ON CRIMINAL MATTERS the Backlog Reduction, Evaluation and Assessment Committee (BREAC) – parish court version, could marshal the Differentiated Case Management (DCM) in these courts, forming the ethos of the second facet of my proposal.

The purpose of these groups would be to track the aged caseload in the different courts.
For this purpose all ‘older’ cases on the trial list of the courts, however aged can be categorized by complexity, state of readiness and age in the court system.

This list can be used on an ongoing basis as the basis of informing the work of the BREAC group.

The goal is to sustain reductions in the pre-existing case backlog in the parish courts and to marshal the process of revising the scheduling practices of the respective courts, thus making backlog prevention a priority.
The Case Progression Officers, under the guidance of the Judges could anchor such groups.

As with the Supreme Court, the parish courts are indeed showing much resilience amidst the constraints experienced however, there is much to be done to accomplish the desired international benchmarks in efficiency and timely delivery of justice, universally.

The current operational policy revisions pursued bears much promise in this regard.
A serious examination of the causes of wide variations in the rank of the different parish courts on the various performance indicators should be pursued and the best practices adopted and standardized.

75 THE CHIEF JUSTICE’S QUARTERLY PARISH COURT REPORT ON CRIMINAL MATTERS Glossary of Statistical Terms 1) Clearance rate: The ratio on incoming to outgoing cases or of new cases filed to cases disposed, regardless of when the disposed cases originated.
For example, in a given Term 100 new cases were filed and 110 were disposed (including cases originating before that Term) the clearance rate is 110/100 or 110%.

Note: The clearance rate could therefore exceed 100% but the disposal rate has a maximum value of 100%.

A persistent case clearance rate of less than 100% will eventually lead to a backlog of cases in the court system.

The inferred international benchmark for case clearance rates is an average of 90%-110 annualized.
This is a critical foundation to backlog prevention in the court system.

i 2) Disposal rate: As distinct from clearance rate, the disposal rate is the proportion of new cases filed which have been disposed in a particular period.

For example if 100 new cases are filed in a particular Term and 80 of those cases were disposed in said Term, then the disposal rate is 80%.
Note: A persistent case clearance rate of less than 100% will eventually lead to a backlog of cases in the court system.ii 76 THE CHIEF JUSTICE’S QUARTERLY PARISH COURT REPORT ON CRIMINAL MATTERS 3) Trial/hearing date certainty: This is the proportion of dates set for trial or hearing which proceed without adjournment.
For example, if 100 trial dates are set in a particular Term and 40 are adjourned, then the trial certainty rate would be 60% 4) Court room utilization rate: The proportion of courtrooms in full use on a daily basis or the proportion of hours utilized in a courtroom on a daily basis 5) Case congestion rate: The ratio of pending cases to cases disposed in a given period.

It is an indication of how fatigued a court is, given the existing state of resources and degree of efficiency.
A case congestion rate of 150% for example, is an indication that given the resources currently at a court’s disposal and its degree of efficiency, it is carrying 1.5 times its capacity.

77 THE CHIEF JUSTICE’S FIRST QUARTER STATISTICS REPORT ON CRIMINAL MATTERS IN THE PARISH COURTS 6) Standard deviation: This is a measure of how widely spread the scores in a data set are around the average value of that data set.
The higher the standard deviation, the higher the variation of the raw scores in the data set, from the average score.

A low standard deviation is an indication that the scores in a data set are clustered around the average.

7) Outlier: An outlier is a value that is either too small or too large, relative to the majority of scores/trend in a data set.

8) Skewness: This is measure of the distribution of scores in a data set.
It gives an idea of where the larger proportion of the scores in a data set can be found.

Generally, if skewness is positive as revealed by a positive value for this measure, this suggests that a greater proportion of the scores in the data set are at the lower end.

If the skewness is negative as revealed by a negative value for this measure, it generally suggests that a greater proportion of the scores are at the higher end.
If the skewness measure is approximately 0, then there is roughly equal distribution of scores on both the higher and lower ends of the average figure.

9) Range: This a is a measure of the spread of values in a data set, calculated as the highest minus the lowest value.

A larger range score may indicate a higher spread of values in a data set.
i Source: http://courts.mi.gov/Administration/SCAO/Resources/Documents/bestpractice/BestPracticeCaseAgeClearanceRate s.pdf ii Source: http://courts.mi.gov/Administration/SCAO/Resources/Documents/bestpractice/BestPracticeCaseAgeClearanceRate s.pdf 78