St. Vincent and the Grenadines is among six countries in the Eastern Caribbean to benefit from EC$200,000 from the UK’s Caribbean Security and Stability Fund (CSSF) to facilitate remote operations of the magistrates’ courts during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The funds will be used to purchase equipment including laptops, printers, scanners, mobile phones and Zoom subscriptions. The equipment and use of technology will allow the courts to make a smooth transition to the digital delivery of some essential services and limit substantial disruption to the criminal justice process.
The COVID-19 pandemic has forced jurisdictions to implement stringent social distancing rules to lessen the risk of transmitting the virus. These measures have resulted in the suspension of physical court activity.