Although slavery was abolished in 1838, as a sign of continuing colonial imperialism, the framers of the Jamaican Constitution (and other CCS) blindly preserved much of their colonial legacy when Jamaica gained independence on 6 August 1962. Notably, Jamaica retained its Westminster-style parliament (which dominates the JRC) and legal system of Common Law. Having mirrored their colonial masters, these RCC constitutional documents were in no way indigenous or the product of sustained political discourse. Indeed, history shows that there has been no ideological debate that has stimulated a surge of ideas from the people. Instead, they were the end product of rapid negotiations between the political elites of the colonies, with the stamp of approval of London-based technocrats (lawyers and politicians) looking out only for their own interests and the interest of the Caribbean-based plantocratic establishment . . There were no representatives of the masses loudly expressing their opinions and interests; who seemed helpless and forgotten. Subsequently, being prosaic in nature, “constitutionalism bequeathed us a legacy of restrictions and democratic traditions based on those of the United Kingdom.” However, the RCC Constitutions departed from the British model by including a written bill of rights. Chapter 3 of the Jamaican Constitution consequently strengthens the protection of individual rights through judicial review, strengthening constitutional supremacy over legislative and executive actions. History shows that it was Christopher Columbus and the Spanish who introduced the death penalty to Jamaica in 1496 and saw to its application against indigenous Indians for very trivial crimes and... middle of paper... it is in post-constitutions independence of the RCC. Although human rights norms evolve over time, the Jamaican Constitution, unlike the 1950 ECHR, is therefore not a “living instrument” and as such the judiciary is unable to create new space for democracy by breathing new life into the Constitution . Worryingly, given that the Bill of Rights contained in Chapter Three of the Jamaican Constitution was reflected in the ECHR, whose promulgation followed the atrocities of the Second World War, it clearly demonstrates how ineffective “pre-existing laws” were in articulating and protecting rights fundamental humans. . This is unfortunate, however, given that it is a fundamental criterion that any constitution should “… be capable of extraordinary growth and development to meet new social, political and historical realities often unimaginable by its authors;” an unfortunate event [emphasis added].