New Magistrate for Family Court

New magistrates, a temporary magistrate and two new crown counsels have been appointed to help speed up things in the judiciary. Complaints from the public about slow child maintenance payments have led the Attorney General to provide the Family Court with two new magistrates, Merlene Moody and Alberta Perez. They will help with the backlog of cases, enforce maintenance orders and review the existing system for collections and payments. Margaret Nicholas who is on study leave will join them in September. Margaret McKenzie who has just completed her law degree at UWI will be assisting with the backlog of coroner’s inquests before beginning a two-year course at the Norman Manley Law School in Jamaica. And finally the Director of Public Prosecutions is also being strengthened by the appointment of two new crown counsel, Orlando Fernandez and Marcel Cardona who both qualified for law from Norman Manley this year.