Minister of Legal Affairs, Basil Williams and his team on Wednesday met with representatives of the Inter-American Development Bank to discuss the overarching needs of Government for the Justice Sector and the activities of the Support for the Criminal Justice System (SCJS) programme.

The representatives of the IDB were Mr. Joel Korn, Ms. Mariko Russell, Mr. Alexandre Veyrat-Pontet and Ms. Derise Williams.

In a release the ministry said the discussions addressed the need to increase access to justice by people in the hinterland and coastal areas; the importance of strengthened probation services; and, the pivotal role of law reform in the Justice Sector Reform (JSR).
Further deliberations were focused on the need for training and development, the need for strengthened mental health systems, rehabilitation and reintegration of drug offenders to society and holistic approaches as it relates to JSR.

The SCJS programme is undertaking various strengthening activities in areas which include; the provision of legal aid services, probation services, law reform, police prosecutors, restorative justice, the judiciary and magistracy. The SCJS program seeks to reduce the number of inmates on pre-trial detention for minor non-violet offences whilst simultaneously increasing the use of alternative sentencing.