Cornwall Bar Association again calls for ballistics lab in Western Ja

President of the Cornwall Bar Association, Michael Hemmings, has reiterated a call for the establishment of a ballistic laboratory in western Jamaica for speedier generation of forensic results in relation to gun-related court matters.

He argued that the sole ballistics laboratory in Kingston is not enough to provide results for the courts across the country on a timely basis.

The Western Bar Association president added that the Western Regional Gun Court is tasked with hearing all gun-related matters for the parishes of St James, Hanover, Westmoreland and Trelawny, and when  ballistic support or forensic reports are needed, they have to be sent to Kingston for testing to be done, and for the results to be generated.

"What I'm advocating for in the west is that we have our own laboratory that will prepare these reports that we need to have matters progress in the court in a swift and timely manner," said Hemmings.

"They take a long time because, as I understand it, that very lab that is in Kingston is what is used for all the 14 parishes. And, as such, we would want our own lab in the west, given that we have a Western Regional Gun Court that is sitting, that is listening and hearing these matters. For timely dispensation of justice, I think it will be fitting to have that in the west as well," he further stated.

He was on speaking on Sunday at William Knibb Memorial Baptist Church in Falmouth, Trelawny during the annual Assize Church Service to mark the Michealmas Term of the Trelawny Circuit Court.

Minister of Constitutional Affairs, Marlene Malahoo Forte; Chief Justice Bryan Sykes, and a number of lawyers and court staff were also among the worshippers in attendance at the church service.