The British monarch is the ceremonial chief of state and is represented by a governor general. The prime minister is the head of government; the position is appointed after elections by the governor general, and usually goes to the leader of the majority party or coalition. The prime minister’s legitimacy rests largely on the conduct of legislative elections, which in Jamaica are generally free and fair. Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) leader Andrew Holness became prime minister after the party’s narrow win in the 2016 elections.

Jamaica’s bicameral Parliament consists of a 63-member House of Representatives, elected for five years, and a 21-member Senate, with 13 senators appointed on the advice of the prime minister and 8 on the advice of the opposition leader. Senators also serve five-year terms.

In 2016, the opposition JLP won 32 seats in the legislature, in a narrow victory over the incumbent People’s National Party (PNP), which took 31. Monitors from the Organization for American States (OAS) deemed the 2016 general elections competitive and credible, but recorded instances of election-related violence ahead of the polls, and expressed concern about voter apathy, which was manifested in a historically low voter turnout of 48 percent.

Electoral laws are generally fair, but the 2016 OAS mission suggested various improvements, including strengthening campaign finance rules and making it easier for citizens to vote in areas outside their assigned polling station.

Political parties form and operate without restriction. Although various smaller parties are active, politics at the national level is dominated by the social democratic PNP and the more conservative JLP.

Opposition parties operate freely, and political power has alternated between the PNP and JLP.

Powerful criminal gangs can influence voters who live in areas under their control. Such groups have used intimidation or other tactics to ensure high voter turnout for particular candidates or parties in exchange for political favors.

Women are underrepresented in politics. Of the 152 candidates contesting the 2016 elections, 26 candidates, or 17.1 percent, were women. Eleven women were elected to the House of Representatives, comprising 17.5 percent of the body. The LGBT community experiences harassment and violence, and this impacts the ability of LGBT people to engage in political and electoral processes.

The elected prime minister and national legislative representatives determine the policies of the government. However powerful criminal gangs, as well as corruption in politics, can affect democratic policymaking.

Long-standing relationships between officials and organized crime figures persist. Government bodies continue to pursue corruption investigations, and cases frequently end in convictions. However, the public prosecutor has faced criticism in the media and from nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) for a reluctance to pursue some cases. Government whistleblowers are not well protected.

Allegations that PNP leaders had siphoned off millions of dollars’ worth of funds donated to the party in order to bolster their personal campaigns for February 2016 elections remained outstanding. But, the PNP has established an internal oversight body to safeguard against such occurrences in the future.

An access to information law has been in effect since 2004, though it contains a number of exemptions, and does not address officials who do not reply to requests. Legislative processes are sometimes opaque.

The constitutional right to free expression is generally respected. Most newspapers are privately owned, and express a variety of views. Broadcast media are largely state-owned but espouse similarly pluralistic points of view. Journalists occasionally face intimidation, especially in the run-up to elections.

Freedom of religion is constitutionally protected and generally respected in practice. While laws banning Obeah—an Afro-Caribbean shamanistic religion—remain on the books, they are not actively enforced.

The government does not restrict academic freedom.

Individuals are generally free to express their personal views on political or other sensitive topics. However, the presence of powerful criminal gangs in some urban neighborhoods can discourage people from talking openly about such groups’ activities.

In September 2017, the House of Representatives passed the National Identification and Registration Bill, which established groundwork for a National Identification System that requires the collection of people’s personal information. Privacy advocates have expressed concern about the system’s possible overreach; it is expected to be rolled out in 2018.

Freedom of assembly is provided for by the constitution, and is generally respected in practice. However, occasionally protests are marred by violence or otherwise unsafe conditions. In 2017, protests in Jamaica’s St. Thomas Parish over poor roads saw some participants throwing stones and setting debris on fire. Responding police deployed pepper spray against at least one demonstrator.

Jamaica has a robust civil society with many active community groups. However, many such organizations struggle financially and at times have difficulty attracting volunteers, negatively impacting their levels of engagement.

Approximately 20 percent of the workforce is unionized. Labor unions are politically influential and have the right to strike. However, essential services workers most undergo an arbitration process with the Ministry of Labor and Social Security before they may legally strike, and the definition of the work constituting “essential services” is broad. There are reports of private-sector employers laying off unionized workers and then later hiring them as contract workers.

Judicial independence is guaranteed by the constitution, though corruption is a problem in some lower courts. The judicial system is headed by the Supreme Court and includes a court of appeals and several magistrates’ courts. The Trinidad-based Caribbean Court of Justice is the highest appellate court.

There were several high-profile convictions during 2017, including in July of a policeman for his involvement in shooting and killing a teenager in 2007. According to a May 2017 report published by the Office of the Contractor General, 68 percent of respondents believed judges had integrity.

Score Change: The score improved from 2 to 3 because the judiciary has established a record of independent decisions, and is regarded as independent by much of the public.

A large backlog of cases and a shortage of court staff at all levels continues to undermine the justice system. Trials are often delayed for years, and at times cases are dismissed due to systematic failures, including antiquated rules regarding evidence.

Killings by police remain a serious problem in Jamaica. According to the Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM), 168 individuals were killed by security personnel in 2017.

A Commission of Inquiry in 2016 submitted a report on the state of emergency declared in 2010 in response to violence in the Tivoli Gardens neighborhood of Kingston, in which more than 70 civilians were killed in an operation aimed at arresting an alleged drug trafficker. The report found that security forces had acted disproportionately, and recommended that the government apologize for the event and provide victims with compensation and counseling services; the government issued an apology and provided some compensation to relatives of those killed in December 2017. However, the JCF in August 2017 issued its own report on the raid, which cleared members of wrongdoing and questioned the integrity of the earlier report.

Gang and vigilante violence remains a common occurrence. Kingston’s insular “garrison” communities remain the epicenter of most violence and serve as safe havens for gangs. Jamaica is a transit point for cocaine shipped from Colombia to U.S. markets, and much of the island’s violence is the result of warfare between drug gangs. A range of initiatives have been taken by successive governments, but crime and violence remain deeply entrenched. As of mid-December, there had been over 1,500 killings, according to police data. In an October address, National Security Minister Robert Montague said crime is causing the country to lose around 68 billion Jamaican dollars ($526 million) a year—the equivalent of five percent of GDP.

Harassment of and violence against LGBT people remains a major concern and is frequently ignored by the police. Legislation against sodomy, which is punishable by 10 years in prison with hard labor, was challenged in court in 2014; however, the case was withdrawn that year after death threats were made against the claimant and his family. In 2016, a report published by J-Flag (Jamaica Forum of Lesbians, All-Sexuals and Gays) found that approximately 88 per cent of survey respondents felt that male homosexuality was immoral; 83.7 percent felt the same for female homosexuality; and 83.5 percent felt bisexual relationships were immoral; these results represented an increase on a similar survey conducted in 2011. As a modest step forward, in 2014 the government added a provision to the Offences against the Person Act that criminalizes the production, recording, or distribution of any audio or visual materials that promote violence against any category of persons, including LGBT individuals.

Women enjoy the same legal rights as men but suffer employment discrimination and tend to make less money than men for performing the same job.

Employment discrimination against Rastafarians has decreased in recent years, as Rastafarian dress and practices have gained greater societal acceptance.

Although there are constitutional guarantees of freedom of movement, political and communal violence frequently precludes the full enjoyment of this right, and curfews are sometimes imposed as a result of gang activity. There are no formal restrictions on people’s ability to choose their place of employment or education.

Jamaica has an active private sector and a powerful pro-business lobby. Individuals are free to establish businesses subject to legal requirements, which are not onerous. Recent reforms have included expediting the incorporation process, making electricity in Kingston more consistent, and easing the import process. However, corruption and crime can still hamper normal business activity.

Score Change: The score improved from 2 to 3 because Jamaica has a robust private sector and the government has taken legal and practical steps to encourage private business activity.

Legal protections for women and girls are poorly enforced, and violence and discrimination remain widespread. There is not a blanket ban on spousal rape, nor are there laws against sexual harassment.

Residents of neighborhoods where criminal groups are influential are at a heightened risk of becoming victims of human traffickers. Child sex tourism is present in some of Jamaica’s resort areas, according to local NGOs. Jamaica has been taking increased action to prevent trafficking; according to the U.S. State Department’s 2017 Trafficking in Persons Report, there were two convictions, 9 nine trafficking cases, and 40 new investigations during the period under review.