T&T Gov’t defends constitutionality of new crime legislation

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC) – The Trinidad and Tobago government is defending the constitutionality of a new crime legislation it piloted Friday, one day after a state of emergency (SoE) ended. Attorney General John Jeremie, who piloted the Special Operations Bill, told Parliament that the constitutionality of the bill is based on the balance that it strikes between the enhanced security powers granted to the services and the protection of fundamental rights and the rule of law. “It allows for temporary security measures, cordons and curfews, to be established or declared in closed areas, but there is a large measure of oversight,” Jeremie said, noting that “while the bill gives security forces special powers, warrantless searches under specific circumstances, it is designed to be a limited and temporary measure and it is distinct from a state of emergency” Jeremie said that the legislation does not grant powers equivalent to a SoE and that the Kamla Persad-Bissessar administration has e examined the constitutionality of limited states of emergency in Jamaica and in Belize.

Jeremie said that in both of those cases, the courts held that the declaration of consecutive states of emergency to treat with crime as a normal crime-fighting tool was unconstitutional. He said in the case of Jamaica, the court held that the government had breached the principle of separation of powers by issuing consecutive states of emergency in late 2022. “Now, this is important.The government in Jamaica did that without seeking parliamentary approval for extensions beyond 14 days as provided for in the constitution.

We have done exactly that in this jurisdiction. We have come to this Parliament to seek extensions as required by law. “The court found in the Jamaica case that that failure allowed the executive branch unlawfully to use a power reserved for parliament, thus making the declarations void,” Jeremie said adding that in the case from Belize, the Court of Appeal struck down the declaration of the SoE for reasons which “are not on point with ours.

“In any event, what is before us today is not a state of emergency.It is a piece of legislation. This piece of legislation is in force in both Jamaica and in St. In both of those countries, the legislation has not been challenged, has not been ruled to be unconstitutional” The government in January failed to get parliamenta…