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LAWS OF JAMAICA



DISCLAIMER

The versions of the legislation on this website are made available for
information only, and any legislation printed from this website has no official
status.

The Government of Jamaica and the Ministry of Justice make no representation or
warranty, expressed or implied and accept no legal liability or responsibility
for the completeness or accuracy of the legislation posted on this website.
Changes have been made to some of these laws, therefore users should consult the
versions of the laws which are printed by the Jamaica Printing Services (1992)
Limited located at 77 ½ Duke Street, Kingston, call: 967-2250 or 967-3982.

- OR -

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THE LAWS OF JAMAICA

Jamaica has a long legislative tradition that has stretched from colonial times
through to the post-independence era. In fact, the laws that presently govern
the state and citizenry of this island nation are an eclectic mix that has
arisen out of legislation passed or promulgated both before and since 1962, when
Jamaica joined the ranks of other independent nations that were previously
colonies of the former British Empire.

The Laws of Jamaica (otherwise referred to as Acts or Statutes) were, in modern
times, first revised in 1938 and again in 1953. Since 1953, during the pre and
post-Independence periods, the volume of Legislation enacted by parliament made
a further revision imperative. Accordingly, legislation was enacted - the Law
Revision Act, 1969 - which, in addition to laying out the framework for how the
revision of laws is to be carried out, as well as establishing the role of the
Law Revision Commissioners in the carrying out of this task, paved the way for
the first (and, to date, only) wholesale revision exercise involving the laws of
independent Jamaica.

THE 'REVISED LAWS'

Law Revision is a process whereby the laws applicable to a region, area or
specific subject matter are reviewed to determine the extent to which changes
have been made over a particular period, and how best to incorporate or
consolidate those changes into a comprehensive publication, i.e. a set of
volumes that will reflect the law in terms of being accurate, current and
timely.

Accordingly, the Revised Laws of Jamaica (Statutes) were published in 1974 and
included all Acts, or Statutes, that were 'in force' on December 31, 1973. Out
of this process, most of the existing primary legislation was organized into
twenty-nine (29) Volumes; included therein are the various enactments (Acts) of
the Jamaican Parliament (Volumes I to XXVII), as well as the Jamaica
Constitution and the Jamaica Independence Act (Volume XXIX).

As a consequence of the revision of the Statutes, Subsidiary (or Secondary)
Legislation spanning the years 1800 - 1975 was, for the first time, also revised
and incorporated into nine Volumes. These Volumes were published in 1976 and are
known as “The Revised Laws of Jamaica (Subsidiary Legislation)”. Currently, the
number of Volumes stands at eighteen (18).

Since 1974 there has been a yearly revision exercise that keeps these Revised
Laws - Statutes and Subsidiary Legislation - updated and current. The Law
Revision Act currently prescribes the 31st day of December of each year as being
the 'cut-off' date for a year's revision, whereby all new legislation produced
and 'in force' (i.e., operational) at that date is account for in the revision
exercise for the year. As such, changes to the pages of the Revised Statutes and
the Revised Subsidiary Legislation are identified and effected, and the updated
pages for the specified year are prepared for publication.

LAW REVISION TEAM

The Law Revision Act (LRA) (1969) gave the charge of ensuring the ongoing
effective and accurate revision of Jamaica's laws to the Law Revision Committee
(LRC), which is chaired by Minister of Justice and comprised of other Law
Revision Commissioners (ex-officio and appointed, as per the 2016 amendment to
the LRA).

Additionally, to allow for greater accessibility to the critical information
contained in the Laws of Jamaica by stakeholders - including legal
practitioners, professionals from various fields, students/academia,
businesspeople, and members of the public at large - the Revised Laws of
Jamaica, as presented in the official volumes containing the Statutes and
Subsidiary Legislation, have been converted to softcopy format by the Law
Revision Secretariat, and made available online via the official website of the
Ministry of Justice.

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