LexBlog (LexBlog Jamaica)

On May 13, 2026, the Second Department issued a decision in Harrison v. 160-01 Jamaica Ave. Corp., 2026 NY Slip Op. 02970, holding that a trial court should have vacated a note of issue because of changed circumstances, explaining: [T]he Supreme Court should have granted that branch of Atlantic’s motion which was pursuant to 22...

Author: Amanda Janell DeAmor Quest Commonwealth Caribbean Lawyer On August 11, 2025, the BBC reported the death of a one-month-old baby girl who had been subjected to Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in the Gambia—a country that is one of 10 countries with the highest rates of FGM despite the practice having been outlawed there since...

Haifa Smoked Fish of Jamaica, NY, is recalling “COLD SMOKED SALMON” and “COLD SMOKED SEABASS” because of positive tests for Listeria monocytogenes.  The implicated Haifa “COLD SMOKED SALMON” is sold in 8-ounce packages with LOT # 219. The “COLD SMOKED SEABASS” is also sold in 8-ounce packages and is marked with LOT # 212. Both...

Brandan J. Pratt of Huth, Pratt & Milhauser in Boca Raton was on the winning side of Markes v. Markes, an interesting 4th DCA appellate opinion I wrote about here involving a contested, multi-jurisdictional estate with contacts in New York, Florida and Jamaica. The 4th DCA ruled in that case that a Florida probate judge...

Long Island Migrant Labor Camps: Dust for Blood Paperback – March 22, 2021 by Mark A. Torres During World War II, a group of potato farmers opened the first migrant labor camp in Suffolk County to house farmworkers from Jamaica. Over the next twenty years, more than one hundred camps of various sizes would be...

Squarely in the heart of the Caribbean Sea lies an island that has played host to countless movies, spring break junkets, and movies about spring break junkets.  The mere mention of Jamaica conjures images of Bob Marley, cabanas under palm trees, and scantily clad beachgoers who have escaped the frigid northern winter.  And lots of...

Late Thursday night, a brawl erupted on a MSC cruise ship which had been denied permission to dock in several Caribbean ports this week over fears of coronavirus, according to several news outlets. Jamaica and the Cayman Islands blocked the MSC Meraviglia from docking when the ship called on Ocho Rios, Jamaica and later when...

Four years ago today, Royal Caribbean’s Freedom of the Seas caught on fire as it approached the port of Falmouth, Jamaica. A former Royal Caribbean crew member, Kevin Chambers who lives near Falmouth, and who we previously represented, videotaped the blaze. The video below has been viewed on Facebook over 1,200,000 times.   When Royal Caribbean tried to spin...

I recently traveled to Montego Bay for the annual CanEx Jamaica conference. I spoke on a panel with attorneys from Jamaica and Canada about the legal challenges across international cannabis markets. Grace Lindo of Jamaican firm Nunes, Scholefield, DeLeon & Co. and Sandra Gogal of Canadian firm Miller Thomson LLP, each spoke about the markets in...

I recently traveled to Montego Bay for the annual CanEx Jamaica conference. I spoke on a panel with attorneys from Jamaica and Canada about the legal challenges across international cannabis markets. Grace Lindo of Jamaican firm Nunes, Scholefield, DeLeon & Co. and Sandra Gogal of Canadian firm Miller Thomson LLP, each spoke about the markets in...

Three years ago today,  the Freedom of the Seas caught on fire. When we learned that the Freedom was on fire while heading to port in Falmouth, Jamaica, we called a former client who lives near the port (in Montego Bay) and asked him to video the fire. He videotaped the ship coming into port, billowing a huge amount of...

The U.S. Coast Guard medevaced an 89-year-old man suffering from a stroke from a Carnival cruise ship on Monday. The Carnival Vista was heading from Miami to Ocho Rios, Jamaica, sailing around the north-eastern corner of Cuba, when the Carnival cruise ship contacted the Coast Guard for medical assistance. The Carnival ship had left Miami...

The Jamaica Observer reported yesterday that three U.S. citizens did not return to the Carnival Sensation which docked in Ocho Rios, St, Ann on Wednesday. The newspaper identified them as Glen Triston, age 35, Tricia Tahecia Forrester, age 24, both of New York, and Clinton Hill, age 42, of North Carolina. Reports are that all...

In Falmouth, Jamaica, the Port Authority of Jamaica is continuing to pursue dredging projects in order to permit the gigantic “mega liners,” including Royal Caribbean’s Oasis Class (sometimes called “Genesis-class”) cruise ships to squeeze into the port, which was rebuilt in 2011. During the construction of the two new two piers, the port was originally dredged. ...

In Falmouth, Jamaica, the Port Authority of Jamaica is continuing to pursue dredging projects in order to permit the gigantic “mega liners,” including Royal Caribbean’s Oasis Class (sometimes called “Genesis-class”) cruise ships to squeeze into the port, which was rebuilt in 2011. During the construction of the two new two piers, the port was originally dredged. ...

The U.S. State Deparment issued a travel warning effective January 18, 2018 that U.S. citizens use exteme caution in traveling to certain locations in Jamaica, following a State of Emergency for St. James Parish, Jamaica which was declared by the government of Jamaica to counter the out-of-control criminal activity. St. James Parish covers the popular...

Yesterday, the Jamaican police reportedly seized a pound of cocaine and arrested a man at the cruise port in Falmouth, Jamaica, according to the Jamaican Observer newspaper.  The Observer reported that around 4:30 on Monday, January 15, 2018, “security checks were being conducted on passengers and crew returning to a cruise ship that was docked...

The Port Authority of Jamaica (PAJ) intends to again dredge the port of Falmouth in order to extend the Falmouth cruise ship pier, according to the Jamaica Gleaner. A PAJ representative stated that the new project will permit the Jamaican port to allow two of the Royal Caribbean’s Oasis Class (originally known as the Genesis Class) cruise...

Over the weekend, I attended CanEx Jamaica in Montego Bay. The event focused on the business and policy of cannabis in Jamaica and abroad. Jamaica decriminalized cannabis in 2015, imposing a fine for possession of less than two ounces of cannabis rather than possible jail time. Jamaica also has legalized cannabis for medical use, but...

On September 1st, I’ll be joining Hilary Bricken in Montego Bay for the CanEx Jamaica Business Conference and Expo. This two-day event features a conference on day one and a job expo on day two. Hilary will speak at the conference alongside cannabis entrepreneurs, doctors, and fellow cannabis industry leaders, including Montel Williams, an outspoken advocate...

Royal Caribbean and sister cruise line Celebrity Cruises are pulling some of their cruise ships from the port of Falmouth, Jamaica, according to the Jamaican Gleaner. Yesterday, the Gleaner published an article titled Major Cruiselines Pull Out Of Falmouth Port, Financial Fallout Expected. The article is admittedly confusing. It quotes Falmouth’s mayor, Colin Gager, referring to...

2/12/17 Update: It seems that after I published this post on 11/27/16, the Jamaican Major Organized Crime and Anti-Corruption Task Force, (“MOCA”), listed Mr. Peter Sangster as a fugitive. “The people on this list are wanted for serious and or violent crimes” MOCA’s website says.  Forty-seven-year-old Peter Sangster of Cherry Gardens, Kingston 8, Jamaica, has...

I had the opportunity last Friday to spend some time with officials from Jamaica’s Cannabis Licensing Authority. The University of Washington’s Cannabis Law & Policy Project and the Washington Office on Latin America put the event together so that Jamaica’s cannabis regulators could speak to a few experienced cannabis business and regulatory lawyers to get...

The Jamaica Gleaner reports that Royal Caribbean and it’s subsidiary, Falmouth Jamaica Land Company, are required to disclose their contractual arrangements with the Port Authority of Jamaica (PAJ) to build Falmouth Port because they were a day late in filing a notice of appeal. An environmental watchdog group, the Jamaica Environment Trust (JET), had previously requested...

The Jamaica Gleaner reports that Royal Caribbean and it’s subsidiary, Falmouth Jamaica Land Company, are required to disclose their contractual arrangements with the Port Authority of Jamaica (PAJ) to build Falmouth Port because they were a day late in filing a notice of appeal. An environmental watchdog group, the Jamaica Environment Trust (JET), had previously requested...

The Jamaican Observer reports that police arrested a man from Ocho Rios at the cruise port in Falmouth, Jamaica last Tuesday (June 28th) when he attempted to board an unidentified cruise ship.  The newspaper says that the man was arrested with two packages, containing five pounds of cocaine, found in a false compartment of his laptop...

The Jamaican Observer reports that police arrested a man from Ocho Rios at the cruise port in Falmouth, Jamaica last Tuesday (June 28th) when he attempted to board an unidentified cruise ship.  The newspaper says that the man was arrested with two packages, containing five pounds of cocaine, found in a false compartment of his laptop...

The Jamaica Observer reported today that the police in Jamaica are seeking the public’s assistance in locating two cruise ship passengers who went missing yesterday. The newspaper identified U.S. citizens, 33-year-old Hayden Gerson and 32-year-old Alisha Frank. These two Americans were passengers on a unidentified cruise ship which docked in Falmouth Jamaica. (Readers have quickly told...

The Jamaica Observer reported today that the police in Jamaica are seeking the public’s assistance in locating two cruise ship passengers who went missing yesterday. The newspaper identified U.S. citizens, 33-year-old Hayden Gerson and 32-year-old Alisha Frank. These two Americans were passengers on a unidentified cruise ship which docked in Falmouth Jamaica. (Readers have quickly told...

The Jamaica Observer reports that yesterday the police in Ocho Rios arrested three crew members aboard an unidentified cruise ship docked at the Ocho Rios Pier with a large quantity of cocaine hidden under their clothes.  The three men were reportedly from St. Vincent. The newspaper identified the men, Lloyd Thomas (40 years old), Dasrick...