OAS » IACHR » Special Rapporteurship for Freedom of Expression » Jamaica

Freedom of Expression

Jamaica

 

            Judicial actions

 

            185.     On July 14, 2003, the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom affirmed the decision handed down by the Court of Appeals in Jamaica two years ago that required the payment of compensation totaling J$35 million (approximately US$750,000) in a defamation case brought by television talk show host Eric Anthony Abrahams against Gleaner Company Limited in 1987.  Abrahams’s accusation referred to a cable by Associated Press that was published by the newspaper the Gleaner and its evening edition, The Star.  The Gleaner Company Limited appealed the judgment hoping to reduce the figure, based on the argument that the amount would have a chilling effect on journalism and would inhibit the constitutional right to freedom of expression.  Nonetheless, the Privy Council considered that the news item had been published with malice and that there was not sufficient information to support it, and, therefore, it found that a large damages award was in order.  The Privy Council considered that the award was not excessive considering the financial losses and personal harm suffered.  The Privy Council added: “This is not a case in which freedom to publish is an issue.”  The damages award is the highest in Jamaica’s legal history.[1]

 

            186.     On May 29, 2003, the Supreme Court of Jamaica ordered the television station CVM to pay compensatory damages for defamation amounting to J$20 million (approximately US$334,000) to a detective corporal by the last name of Tewari.  The compensation was ordered in relation to the content of two news broadcasts by CVM-TV on November 12, 1998, related to the channel’s coverage of a demonstration on May 11, 1998, in Braeton, to the south of Santa Catalina, in which there was a controversial exchange of gunfire involving the police.  Tewari alleged that his reputation had been harmed by statements contained in those programs, and testified that he was not present during the exchange of gunfire.  The court ruled in his favor.  The television station decided to appeal the ruling.[2]

 

            Access to information

 

            187.     An Access to Information Act, approved by the Senate on June 28, 2002, is in the process of being implemented in Jamaica.  The Act provides for the release of government documents but exempts the "opinions, advice or recommendations (and) a record of consultation or deliberations" of civil servants, including Cabinet members, from disclosure.  As part of the Act, an Access to Information Unit within the Prime Minister’s Office has been established to guide the implementation process, and establish a framework for citizens to effectively use the Act.[3]  The implementation of the first phase of the Act was originally scheduled to begin in August 2003, but was later postponed until October 2003.  On September 2003, the government announced that the Senate would not be debating the amendment to the Access to Information Act until the regulations governing its long-awaited implementation have been presented, to ensure that final consideration of the Bill and the regulations take place together.[4]

 

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