President of the Senate, Senator Floyd Morris, wants sign language experts appointed to the courts to improve the deaf population’s access to the justice system.

He is suggesting that the Justice Ministry appoints at least one court officer, with sign language expertise, in each parish.

Senator Morris says, this is important, because Jamaica has a deaf population whose rights are violated from time to time, therefore, it is necessary to equip the staff to understand how to communicate with these individuals.

The Senate President was speaking at the re-opening ceremony for the Santa Cruz Resident Magistrate’s Court building, in St Elizabeth, recently.

He also saluted the government for passing the Disabilities Act of 2014, and also implementing the provisions of the Act.
He stated, that according to figures from the United Nations, Jamaica’s population of persons with disabilities, stood at 15 percent of the general population, or approximately 400,000 persons.