KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC—In a significant display of its commitment to legal obligations, the Jamaica government disbursed an estimated J$530 million (One Jamaica dollar = 0.008 cents) in judgment debt for 182 matters last year.
During the 2024/25 Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives, Justice Minister Delroy Chuck said that judgment debt” was a significant challenge when he was appointed to the portfolio judgment debt “was a considerable challenge.
Last year, the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service allocated J$750 million towards judgment debts.
“I can tell you that there were lawyers who were begging me. The government owes them millions of dollars, and it was unfair that they settled the case; they had a judgment and couldn’t get their money.
“So, under the former minister of finance, Audley Shaw, in 2017, we urged him to let us have enough to pay up the judgment debts, and in 2017/18, we got J$1.5 billion and paid off all the backlogs.
“What is essential is that since then, we have been able to pay for every completed or settled case. So, no one can say that they won a judgment or have an unsettled claim and have not been paid.
“We want to make sure that when people sue the Government for whatever infraction, they get their money, and under this Administration, we have done it for the last eight years,” Shaw told legislators.
The government has paid out J$5.8 billion in judgment debt since 2016, with a high of J$1.5 billion in 2017/2018.
J$680 million has been earmarked to settle claims during the current financial year.
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