Lawyers on in camera hearings

The Editor, Sir:

In your publication of Saturday, July 3, you erroneously stated that the Jamaican Bar Association had taken objections to the in camera hearings of the Advisory Tribunal set up under the Emergency Regulations. This is, in fact,not so.

The Bar is committed to the constitutional principle that proceedings for the determination of civil rights shall be held in public but that this may be limited in cases where publicity would prejudice the interest of justice. As is well known in assessing where the interest of justice lies, individual rights and protection must be balanced against the public's right to know.

As explained by the tribunal, the hearings are being held in camera for reasons, including protecting the privacy of the persons detained.

Under the state of emergency, the minister, in justifying the detentions, may seek to rely on material which would not, and does not, amount to evidence. In fact, this has occurred in many of the cases. It therefore means that an individual's name and reputation could be damaged by assertions that cannot be proven.

The tribunal has, however, made it clear that relatives of the detainees will be permitted to attend. This is certainly an advance over what obtains in the Gun Court Division of the High Court of Jamaica where, routinely, all members of the public, including the press and relatives of the parties, are excluded.

What the Bar has insisted on is the right of attorneys-at-law, as officers of the court and guardians of the Constitution, not to be excluded from the hearings.

I hope this clarifies the matter.

I am, etc.,

JACQUELINE

SAMUELS-BROWN