Kings House is reporting that a meeting last week involving the three branches of government allowed for misunderstandings to be cleared up in a manner that does not bring the Judiciary into disrepute.

Governor General Sir Patrick Allen convened the meeting at the request of the Prime Minister, involving representatives of the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary.

Among the issues discussed were recent developments over the appointment of Bryan Sykes to act as Chief Justice, and comments by the Prime Minister implying interference in Judiciary.

A statement this afternoon from Kings House says, Sir Patrick convened a tripartite meeting with the Executive – represented by the Prime Minister, the ministers of finance, national security, justice and the attorney general; the Legislature – represented by the speaker of the house of representatives and the president of the senate; as well as the Judiciary-  represented by the acting Chief Justice, the president of the court of appeal, the senior and other puisne judges.

The meeting was intended to explore ways in which each of the branches of government can collaborate and support the smooth operation of governance structure and provide the best service to the people of Jamaica.

Sir Patrick says the parties met to consider a path forward in resolving issues, in a bid to allay anxieties that the public may have and to assure everyone that democracy still obtains.

At the meeting, Prime Minister Andrew Holness reiterated that the executive had no intention of undermining or diminishing the role of the Judiciary, and that his primary interest is to ensure that all of government works in the best interest of the people and that public resources are efficiently used and properly accounted for by those who use them.

The Judiciary declared that the three branches of the government were ‘separate but not separated, equal and independent’ in their core functions, while acknowledging that all branches had to work together.

Acting Chief Justice Bryan Sykes noted that the forum provided an avenue for dialogue and called for it to become part of the governance structure, to avoid unfortunate events such as the recent one which was extraordinary and should not be a common occurrence.

The Governor General says the recent developments were ventilated in an atmosphere of mutual respect and understanding and everyone agreed that the situation could have been better and differently handled.