# How to fix Jamaica's justice system in five years

In February 2014 Donovan Ferguson argued that diaspora contributions could fund a faster justice system within five years.

On 26 February 2014 this site published [The data problem in Jamaica's courts](/blog/jamaica-court-data/). The next day Donovan Ferguson set out how he thought the problem could be fixed. What follows is his argument, with the figures brought up to date where a newer official source exists.

He thought 2014 was a good moment to act, for three reasons.

First, he pointed to Jamaica's telecommunications build-out, and he listed three-tier data centres, fibre-optic networks and what he called 4G Wi-Fi. Those three items are his 2014 description. They were not re-checked against a regulator's inventory, so they are not restated here as a 2026 fact.

Second, he said Jamaica had trained people out of work, and about six universities and other colleges that could help with training. A current public list of universities in Jamaica still names six: Caribbean Maritime University, Northern Caribbean University, The Mico University College, the University of Technology, the University of the Commonwealth Caribbean, and the University of the West Indies, Mona. That list is the universities table on [Wikipedia's page for universities and colleges in Jamaica](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_universities_and_colleges_in_Jamaica). It is a list of institutions, not an unemployment count.

Third, he put the diaspora at about two million people in North America and Europe, and he said many of them would give money if government published a plan and a timetable. Jamaica's 2026 Voluntary National Review uses a higher figure for people of Jamaican descent, and a lower one for people born in Jamaica. It says estimates suggest over three million persons of Jamaican descent live in North America and Europe, mainly in the United Kingdom, while 743,963 residents of the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada were born in Jamaica, based on the latest censuses in those countries. The passage is in the [2026 Voluntary National Review](https://statistics.caricom.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Jamaica_VNR_2026_Main_Report.pdf), hosted by the CARICOM statistics programme.

His example was a government programme. Members of the diaspora would pay into a crime-fighting and justice fund. In return, contributors would receive a 5 per cent discount on the transaction fees and taxes on a later property purchase in Jamaica. He then did the arithmetic. If one million contributors gave US$15 a month, that is US$15 million a month. If two million gave US$15 a month, that is US$30 million a month. He argued that, over five years, money on that scale could pay for a justice and crime-prevention system far beyond what Jamaica had in 2014. The arithmetic of US$15 times those headcounts is correct. The five-year result was his judgement, not a costed plan. No public record was found of this discount fund being set up.

He said the money would do two kinds of work, and he added four further steps.

1. Use the donations for a modern forensic laboratory, police stations with the equipment and the professional staff they need, an island-wide video surveillance system, efficient court buildings, and a witness protection system.
2. Invite philanthropic people and organisations to partner on the same goal.
3. Fit solar electricity, and energy-efficient LED lighting, in courts, police stations and Ministry of Justice buildings, to cut running costs.
4. Bring in retired Scotland Yard, Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Australian police officers to train and mentor new Jamaican officers.
5. Hire only people with a bachelor's degree or higher for the Ministry of Justice and the police force.
6. Review the statute book and bring the laws up to date.

The court record since 2014 does not match this funding model, and it does not match a claim that the system was rebuilt in five years. Parish-court criminal clearance was 106.61 per cent in 2023, with a net backlog of 2.35 per cent of active cases, in the [Chief Justice's 2023 report](https://supremecourt.gov.jm/sites/default/files/Parish%20Courts%20of%20Jamaica%20The%20Chief%20Justice%27s%20Annual%20Statistics%20Report%20for%202023%20%28Criminal%20Matters%29.pdf). For 2025, Dr Denarto Dennis reported clearance of 103.44 per cent and a net criminal backlog of 2.16 per cent, as carried by the [Jamaica Observer on 20 September 2026](https://www.jamaicaobserver.com/2026/09/20/faster-verdicts-lower-backlog/). The Integrated Electronic Case Management System is scheduled to go live on 1 October 2027, according to the [Jamaica Information Service on 19 August 2026](https://jis.gov.jm/digital-court-case-management-system-set-for-october-2027-launch/).

The 2014 post said Ferguson, a Jamaican living in the United States, was then attending Western Governors University for an MBA in IT management and working as a lead Apple technician at Microelectronics. That was his biography at publication. It is not a claim about where he works or studies in 2026. A LinkedIn address printed in 2014 carried login tokens and is not repeated.

## Updated October 2026

- The diaspora line now uses the 2026 Voluntary National Review: over three million people of Jamaican descent in North America and Europe, and 743,963 Jamaica-born residents in the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada. Source: the [VNR PDF](https://statistics.caricom.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Jamaica_VNR_2026_Main_Report.pdf).
- "About six universities" is checked against the six institutions on [Wikipedia's Jamaica university list](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_universities_and_colleges_in_Jamaica). The 4G Wi-Fi and three-tier data-centre lines stay as Ferguson's 2014 reasons only.
- The US$15 contribution fund is kept as his proposal. Court performance since then is sourced to the [2023 Chief Justice report](https://supremecourt.gov.jm/sites/default/files/Parish%20Courts%20of%20Jamaica%20The%20Chief%20Justice%27s%20Annual%20Statistics%20Report%20for%202023%20%28Criminal%20Matters%29.pdf), the [Observer, 20 September 2026](https://www.jamaicaobserver.com/2026/09/20/faster-verdicts-lower-backlog/), and the [JIS note of 19 August 2026](https://jis.gov.jm/digital-court-case-management-system-set-for-october-2027-launch/) on the October 2027 case system.


Source: https://balcostics.com/blog/fix-jamaica-justice-system/