Government intensifies push for disability access to justice
Published:Saturday | February 7, 2026 | 12:08 AMRuddy Mathison/Gleaner Writer
The Government says it is intensifying efforts to ensure that persons with disabilities are fully integrated into the national discourse and are able to access justice with dignity and opportunity.
State Minister in the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Marisa Dalrymple-Philibert, made the pledge while addressing participants at the 10th staging of the UNDP and Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs Legal Aid Justice Fair for Persons with Disabilities, held yesterday at the Spanish Town bus terminal in St Catherine.
According to the state minister, the fair itself sent a powerful message about inclusion and equity.
“This initiative is about ensuring that persons with special challenges are not left behind on the margins but are fully included in the national story of progress,” she said, adding “that’s what transforming lives means”.
Dalrymple-Philibert stressed that justice must be accessible to every Jamaican, noting that the event underscored the principle that “justice opportunity and dignity belong to every single Jamaican”.
She disclosed that the programme has already enabled more than 3,150 Jamaicans, including members of the challenged community, to access critical government services.
“For persons with these special challenges access is not a luxury, it is a right,” she said, pointing out that the legal fair and its participating government agencies are designed to ensure that this right is realised by the disabled community.
MAJOR HIGHLIGHT
One of the fair’s major highlights was the introduction of a Canadian-funded mobile legal aid bus, described by Dalrymple-Philibert as a “game changer” in delivering legal services directly to persons with disabilities, particularly in rural communities, and equipped with a wheelchair-accessible hydraulic ramp.
Executive Director of the Legal Aid Council, Dian Watson, said the bus – equipped with a lawyer on board – has already been making a tangible difference.
“We go all out to provide the services, we have trained lawyer, our staff attorneys are trained in sign languages so we can communicate with the deaf, we are trained in intellectual disabilities so we can assist those with intellectual disabilities, we are building capacities so we can better serve the people of Jamaica,” Watson stated.
However, even as the initiative drew praise, it also exposed ongoing challenges.
Participant Patrick Rhoden of Old Harbour, who uses a motorised wheelchair, said accessing the mobile bus proved difficult.
“It’s very difficult for me, the mobile wheelchair is heavy and attempts to use the hydraulic ramp to get in the bus failed because of the weight,” he said.
Rhoden recounted an incident in which the hydraulic ramp stopped midway, forcing operators to lower it so he could exit the bus.
He also lamented the broader lack of disability-friendly public infrastructure, highlighting the absence of accessible bathrooms with handrails and business premises that cannot accommodate wheelchair users.
Calling for stronger legislative action, Rhoden urged that wheelchair ramps be made mandatory in business places and other public facilities.