THOUGH filled with challenges flowing from the downstream effects of hard work, the past year for the JPs has been successful as we continued to achieve significant milestones and made progress in concluding some of our plans and reforms.

We have had to work much harder to maintain our competitive advantage, and while this was anticipated, it required us to show more innovativeness in the manner of our service delivery to clients or customers and the costing of our services.

We look forward to the cooperation of all JPs/COAs in the adherence of their duties. During the year, we continued to partner with the public through a range of honesty and loyalty development.

As we look to 2010, we will be continuing our efforts to expand our membership and working network and our range of services, as we believe these strategies will provide a stable working environment for the basis of our future growth.

In addition, it will allow us to place better focus on our clients and provide them with the exceptional service they deserve.

The Justices of the Peace and Commissioners of Oaths to Affidavits Association has been in existence since February 1989, i.e. over two decades.

We have provided an essential and very important service to the ‘small man’, ordinary citizens in the village, community and country as a whole.

We have mediated in disputes and other matters, provided invaluable advice on areas of legal or semi-legal basis within the ambit and authority of our commission.

These services have been given at a small or nominal fee and where practicable we provide a ‘home’ service to the indigent, sick, disabled and elderly persons.

It must be noted that in order to improve the service and functions to the community, the concepts and laws will have to be revised, amended and changed to suit our present time and realities.

There is a saying that if only by a passage of time, it would have outlived its usefulness, because any law that is over 100 years old must be an irrelevant law, an antiquated law.

Procedures and methods were inherited from the British legal system centuries ago and not much effort has been shown to make these laws relevant to our current times.

Hence, we are asking for your valued inputs and suggestions in having an improvement or change in the provision of services by JPs and COAs.

These recommendations could be obtained from personal experiences or those of family, relatives or other persons in society.

We genuinely would like to revise the system in order to provide a much more meaningful service to the general public at large.

I wish at this time to extend my hope that the New Year will bring further success and rewarding times for us all JPS and COAs.
HERMON BHOLAISINGH
President, JP Association