Trevor Munroe | Upholding justice, advancing civic action in 2023

On December 28, as I was reflecting on the year 2022 and on the dawning of 2023, Jamaica’s executive – the governor general, acting on the advice of the prime minister – declared a new state of emergency to last initially until January 11. Among other things, our prime minister declared that “the Executive will use states of emergencies when necessary and within the law”.

We citizens need to be clear, as our prime minister himself understands, who it is that ultimately determines whether an SOE is “within the law”. It is not the prime minister, nor the Cabinet, nor the Parliament, nor JFJ, nor NIA, nor the PSOJ. It is the judiciary, the branch of Government, under our system, equal in status to the Parliament and to the executive.

In 2011, the provision was put in our constitution, following agreement on all sides – by the then JLP Government, PNP Opposition, civil society groups and citizens bodies after 10 years of deliberation. All agreed that it would be the Judiciary who would determine whether, in a state of emergency or otherwise, “any action … which infringes citizens’ rights is demonstrably justified [or not] in a free and democratic society.” (Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms)

I am encouraged that going into 2023 our Jamaican and Caribbean judiciary is fully aware and is resolved to live up to this critical responsibility. My positive expectation arises from my recent experience with the Caribbean Association of Judicial Officers (CAJO). I was privileged to deliver a keynote address to the over 120 judicial officers – including chief justices, supreme court and parish justices attending the 7th biennial conference in October under the theme ‘The Judiciary in a Changing World’. I spoke of the ‘Democratic Recession’ currently sweeping across most regions of the world and stressed the importance of the Judiciary being the bulwark against any tendencies to erode democracy in the Caribbean.

HEARTENING

It was and remains heartening to see that at the close of the conference the judicial officers resolved to be “mindful that the Caribbean constitutions expressly constitute the states with three coequal branches of government.” Further, the conference resolution reiterated “the role that judicial officers have to guard the constitutional rights of all … a duty to respond to the specific needs of persons and communities who are marginal and vulnerable.”

I am encouraged in looking forward to 2023 that this resolve was much evident in 2022. It was the Judiciary in Jamaica, and unfortunately not the executive nor the Parliament, that declared unlawful the decades long injustice of depriving thousands of private security guards of many of their entitlements by treating them as contractors. It was the Judiciary which declared unlawful and unconstitutional the detention of five men for a prolonged period without any charge being laid under what justice Bertram Morrison described as the “executive determined system” during the 2020 state of emergency.

For 2023, where any “organ of the state”, executive, Parliament, police, public body, or any private entity for that matter infringes or threatens to infringe our rights without demonstrable justification in a free and democratic society, let us go beyond complaining: tek it to the court!

I am encouraged and urge that 2023 see similar increased levels of civic activism evident in 2022.

• It was the assertiveness of the trade unions and the workers in May 2022 which insisted on more meaningful consultation from the Ministry of Finance that encouraged Minister Clarke to respond with meetings that took workers views more into account. This has contributed significantly to the restructuring of the public service being less troubled with industrial action and more mutually beneficial to the workers as well as to Jamaica as a whole. Trade union assertiveness and employer responsiveness must continue in the new year.

• Let 2023 also see more of us coming forward to report suspected wrong, to do the right thing and to learn that coming forward can make a difference. In 2020/21, citizens forwarded almost six times the number of whistleblower reports to the Auditor General’s Office than in 2019/20 – 34 to six respectively. The Integrity Commission in 2021, received almost four times the number of complaints compared to 2019/20 – 91 to 23 respectively. Up to November 2022, crime stop had received 1,074 tips through its hotline compared to 643 during the same period in 2021. Were these reports a waste of time? You judge. On December 28, in his press briefing, the commissioner of police reported “the highest level of gun recovery in five years”. Similarly, it was the Auditor General’s report which exposed wrong and facilitated sanctions being applied to the Airports Authority of Jamaica board as well as in other cases.

• Our investigative journalists must continue in 2023 to use our world-class ‘freedom of the press’ to bring to light what is hidden so that we may take action. The RJRGLEANER Group needs to sustain and intensify exposures such as ‘FLA rapped for denying cop gun licence for high-risk home’, ‘Integrity Commission requests financial data on 150 public officials, family members’ and ‘Former RADA board member stumped by conflict-of-interest claims.’

• Citizens’ groups need to continue assertiveness in the traditional and social media particularly on issues which need follow up. The Advocacy Network, of which I am an associate, needs to follow up on a report on Canadian farm workers’ conditions as well as on advancing the cause of reparations. The growing number of citizens associations organised in the Citizens Rights to the City needs to continue insistence on greater transparency, accountability as well as sanctions in relation to irregular or illegal developments. The KSMAC and NEPA must increase their responsiveness.

GREATER ADVOCACY

For our part, we the National Integrity Action, similar to other partner civil society organisations like JFJ, JET and JAMP, are preparing ourselves for greater advocacy in 2023. NIA’s priorities are:

• Contributing to the first stage of constitutional reform – moving quickly to our Jamaican republic and to a final court – the CCJ where our citizens do not need a visa to attend. We urge professional bodies like the Jamaican Bar Association to take up this cause.

• Strengthening citizen security, youth development and anti-violence programmes in selected communities, integrity clubs in schools and, at the national level, advocating along with CMOC, a suitable Enhanced Security Measures Act.

• Advocating removal of the ‘gag clause’ from the Integrity Commission Act, amending the Public Disclosures Act to provide financial incentives for ‘whistleblowers’ and building public support for the FID, MOCA and other anti-corruption agencies.

• Partnering to increase citizen’s participation and Parliamentary Oversight of the Executive.

• Working to reduce HIV stigmatisation and discrimination.

As we all work on these and similar priorities for good governance in 2023, we have to contribute in every way to the long-term transformation of an unacceptable and dangerous reality in Jamaica: the 2022 United Nation’s World Population Review indicates that there are only 25 countries out of 163 tabulated where ‘wealth inequality’ is greater than in Jamaica. Similarly on Oxfam’s 2022 commitment to Reduce Inequality Index (CRI), 19 of 25 states in Latin America and the Caribbean rank higher than Jamaica in policies to reduce inequality. Greater realisation of our pledge to ‘uphold peace, brotherhood and justice’ demands action to eradicate this gap between the top and the bottom of society in Jamaica land we love. For starters, we should all support the call of the new president of the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica, Metry Seaga, who stated that for those who can afford “We need to pay people better.” ( The Gleaner, December 28, 2022) Additionally, employers need to engage in more ‘on the job training’ of employees. Third, the lag in implementing the Patterson Commission’s Report on Reform of Education in Jamaica must be urgently closed.

Professor Trevor Munroe is principal director, National Integrity Action. Send feedback to info@niajamaica.org or columns@gleanerjm.com.