CCJ no hanging court
Trinidad & Tobago Newsday
Thursday, May 17 200
By ANDRE BAGOO 7
IN WHAT may be interpreted as a response to Prime Minister Patrick Manning’s assertion that the Privy Council is standing in the way of hangings and that, as such, the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) should become Trinidad and Tobago’s final court of appeal, the President of the CCJ has said that those who feel the CCJ is a “hanging court” had better think otherwise.
“If you would like to know whether the court is a ‘hanging court’, I would suggest that you disregard what others may say on the subject and instead read what the Judges themselves have said in their judgments in Joseph v Boyce,” President of the CCJ Justice Michael de la Bastide said yesterday.
De la Bastide, who was addressing a South Chamber of Industry and Commerce luncheon at Crowne Plaza, Port-of-Spain, was referring to the capital appeal case of Joseph v Boyce which was handed down last November by the CCJ.
In that case, a panel comprising de la Bastide himself and Justices Rolston Nelson, Duke Pollard, Adrian Saunders, Desiree Bernard, Jacob Wit and David Hayton ruled that the Barbados Mercy Committee was wrong in ordering the execution of two convicted murderers before they had exhausted international appeals of their convictions.
In the judgment, the court was at pains to emphasise that “the death penalty is a constitutionally sanctioned punishment for murder” which “falls within internationally accepted conduct on the part of civilised states” and that “courts have an obligation to respect constitutions and laws that retain capital punishment.”
However, it also issued the strong warning that “the death penalty... should not be carried out without scrupulous care being taken to ensure that there is procedural propriety and that in the process the fundamental human rights are not violated. Death is a punishment which is irrevocable.”
De la Bastide pointed out that all CCJ judgments are readily available on the CCJ’s web-site and will soon be published in the West Indian Reports, a series of law reports published by Butterworths (Lexis Nexis) in England.
Yesterday, the former Chief Justice took the opportunity to warn that it would be a “tragedy” if after all of the money spent to establish the CCJ (which is now financially supported by its own trust fund), it was left to languish in the wake of political agendas.
“I think it would be a great tragedy if, for whatever reason, be it competition for political ascendancy or simply the timorous conservatism of a post-colonial mentality, the CCJ should be denied the opportunity to fulfil its true potential. If that were to happen, it would mean that an opportunity had been lost which might not return for many generations.”
When asked whether his comments were aimed specifically at the Prime Minister, De la Bastide told Newsday that the comments themselves said enough.
In the Joseph v Boyce case four men had been charged with the murder of Barbadian Marquelle Hippolyte, 22, on April 10, 1999. They were offered a deal by Bajan prosecution authorities that would have allowed them to plead guilty to manslaughter.
Joseph and Boyce did not accept this deal and fought the charges against them. They were found guilty of murder and sentenced to hang.
A HUMBUG TO HANGINGS
Manning wants to replace Privy Council
Trinidad Express
Sunday, May 6th 2007
Earl Manmohan Scarborough
Patrick Manning
Prime Minister Patrick Manning wants hangings to be resumed in Trinidad and Tobago.
He said the Privy Council, sitting thousands of miles away in London, had from time to time put impediments in the way of hangings being carried out here.
However, he said, he was hoping that after the next general election-which was not too far away-his new government would get the required numbers to pass legislation making the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) the final appellant court.
"It is high time we have our own appellant court," he told a receptive audience at the fourth Public Consultation on Crime at the Signal Hill Secondary Comprehensive School on Friday night.
Manning recalled that when the UNC was in government they informed Caribbean governments that they were in support of the CCJ, hence the reason why it was sited here, but the moment that party was out of government it withdrew its support.
"You will get the opportunity not too long from now to decide and I wait with bated breath to see what you will do," he told his audience which included National Security Minister Martin Joseph, THA Chief Secretary Orville London and top officials from the protective services.
Manning said like many people, "we believe that capital punishment is an essential element in crime fighting".
He said as bad as the criminals were they were afraid of their life being taken away.
"An essential element of that package has to be the return of capital punishment. I am a strong supporter of capital punishment," he stressed.
He said the police recently adopted a new policy that "if you confront me with a gun it is a fight to the finish. So if you confront the police with a gun it is a fight to the finish. There is no other way. One thing the criminals are afraid of is death.
"If you develop a proper relationship with your maker, you no longer have to be afraid of death. I am not afraid of death. If you ask me I am not afraid of death and if the good Lord decides to take my life so be it, but while I remain I would be a thorn in the side of the criminals in this country," he said.
The Prime Minister also revealed government's determination to fight drug trafficking, which, according to a recent UN Report, was the single most important reason for the rise of crime and the deterioration of the levels of security enjoyed by citizens and visitors alike.
He said a team from Scotland Yard who worked in Trinidad and Tobago in 1995 had advised that this country was small enough to eradicate the drug trade.
He added that the first step was to install ten radar sites, two in Tobago with a command centre in Port of Spain to give 360-degree coverage of the country's coastline. He said the high quality coastal radar system bought from Israel also encompasses the islands of Grenada, St Vincent and the Grenadines and St Lucia to the north of Trinidad and Tobago where two sites were also installed.
He noted that surveillance could be done as far north as Martinique. Each radar cost US$1.5 million.
In addition, he said, the two C26 surveillance aircraft were being upgraded and four armed helicopters were being purchased, as well as the installation of an Air Traffic Control radar system to work in conjunction with the Israel system to track low flying aircraft.
In terms of sea surveillance, Manning outlined that three fast patrol boats, each 89.9 metres long were being purchased, the first to be delivered in March 2009; the conversion of two Coast Guard vessels in the short term for military activity at a cost of $29 million, the purchase of six interceptor fast patrol boats and the upgrade of the Coast Guard bases in Trinidad and in Tobago.
That is a very formidable arsenal and the drugs dealers have already began to run, he assured his listeners. audience.
