Justice Minister Urges MPs to Revisit Bill to Make Jamaica a Republic

Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Hon. Delroy Chuck, is calling on Members of Parliament (MPs) to revisit the Constitution (Amendment) (Republic) Act, 2024, which was previously tabled to remove the British monarch.

“For Jamaica’s sake, let us look at the Bill and see how it can be amended, if necessary, and modified so that this Parliament, at the earliest possible time, can debate and remove the monarch. We need to become a republic, there is no need to delay this process,” Mr. Chuck said.

The Minister was making his contribution to the 2026/27 Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives on June 10.

Mr. Chuck further noted that the matter of the final appellate court will be taken to the people through constitutional town hall meetings.

“The final appellate court has many possibilities. We can go the route of Hong Kong, where the final appellate court consists of international judges and Hong Kong judges and they sit at the final appellate court. I don’t mind if the final appellate court in Jamaica, that five Caribbean court judges sit, but it must be a Jamaican final court,” he argued.

Minister Chuck also urged and invited Leader of the Opposition, Mark Golding, to restart the constitutional process.

“We can do a fair amount of piecemeal, putting in the Electoral Commissioner of Jamaica as a part of it, the Public Defender and other pieces. But without the consensus of this Parliament, it doesn’t make sense,” he said.

“But, if we’re not going to go and do a process, we may well have to do it because we have Bills there to put in the Electoral Commissioner and the Public Defender as a part of the Constitution. But we want it to be a consensus of this Parliament,” he added.

In the meantime, the Ministry has continued the strategic and targeted public education programme on the Constitution.

As part of the sustained legal education efforts, the Ministry has distributed more than 400 Jamaican-branded consolidated copies of the Constitution.

“We look forward to a renewed effort to get our Constitution reflecting what we want,” Mr. Chuck said.