LETTER OF THE DAY: A bad experiment
Published:Sunday | July 11, 2010 | 12:00 AM
The Editor, Sir:
Opposition spokesman on Justice, A.J. Nicholson, has made the point that the recently passed crime bills which "shift the burden of substantiating bail to the accused person is inconsistent with the presumption of innocence". The entitlement to be presumed innocent until proven guilty is not only a right under the Jamaica Constitution but a pillar of legal jurisprudence which should be guarded vigorously.
I am a mere observer of national affairs, and if the unopposed assessment of the former attorney general is correct (which it appears to be), the response of the Government through its senators that "draconian law" (which comes dangerously close to infringing constitutional rights and legal certainty) "is worth experimenting with to see whether or not it would assist us in the necessary fight against crime and violence" is flawed.
Inconsistent
Encouraging feedback, guidance and extended debate, but further to the above, it is suggested that it might follow that the recently passed crime bill which shifts the duty of proving why bail should be granted to the accused is ultra vires (inconsistent with the supreme law of Jamaica). For the purposes of extended understanding simply put, you detained me, you show why I should be deprived my freedom only seems fair and the intentions of those who encroach upon this via legislation should be questioned.
Constitutional rights and the entitlement to a presumption of innocence is fundamental to our legal system and should not be experimented with in any way shape or form, whether it is the detention an individual for 60 days, then saying 'hey, you say why we shouldn't detain you' or scraping up a youth on the corner with no valid grounds of citing reasonable suspicion.
In the said vein, we should contemplate the domino effect of such draconian measures. May the powers that be consider that when Jamaicans are locked away without charge for no apparent reason, we are only fostering a more torrid future. People will be angry, indignant and target more vitriol towards the system. By adopting the wrong approach, we would have again defeated our intentions of a permanent reduction in crime and violence.
I suggest that parts of the crime bill and the present policy of detention and extended detention without charge of numerous Jamaicans will prove to be a bad "experiment".
I am, etc.,
ABKA FITZ-HENLEY