Questionable Conduct: The Jamaican Political Reality

o Case To Answer On Monday, March 24, 2014, Senior Resident Magistrate Judith Pusey upheld the No Case Submissions (NCS) made by Deborah Martin, Attorney-at-Law (on behalf of Kern Spencer) and Attorney-at-Law K.D. Knight, Q.C. (on behalf of Coleen Wright). She ruled that both had no case to answer and were therefore free to go. The Prosecution was led by the Director of Public Prosecution, Paula Llewellyn Q.C.. The learned DPP openly disagreed with the decision that a prima facie case was not made out. Indeed on every available opportunity she has vigorously exclaimed (repeating bits of the Reply) that there was a "mountain of evidence"  and that the Senior RM was wrong in law as there was no doubt that there was a case to answer. This has ignited a conflagration of public perceptions about the administration of justice in Jamaica. For the mass public something seems fundamentally wrong with the system, given the length of time, the postponement of other cases,...

The cost of any COE   is always of concern and especially so when there are competing demands for ever scarce resources. The debate surrounds getting value for money and the provision of jobs for the favoured few. Lawyers play a critical role in such enquiries. Where counsel in retained by private interests it is of no public concern. However, when the government selects counsel and pays for such services out of the public purse, then it is a matter for public scrutiny. Of course there is also the inferences to be drawn when counsel retained by the government displays political allegiance favourable to the governing political party, and in some instances play supportive roles during elections -- even contesting seats. The Snoring Commission was no different and the scrutiny was heightened by the withdrawal of the JLP and its associates from the proceedings. Consequently the findings are conditioned by the situation of " uncontradicted evidence" being prese...

Attorney- General, the Honourable Patrick Atkinson, Q.C. has risen to the defence of the appointment of Velma Hylton, Q.C. as one of three commissioners in the Tivoli COE . The learned gentleman read in Parliament from " Statement to Parliament on the Tivoli Commission of Enquiry by Patrick Atkinson, Attorney General, Tuesday, March 04, 2014" It should be noted that   no reliance was placed on the verbatim notes of the proceedings of the Snoring Commission which would have substantiated, or otherwise, the quotations in the public domain and the context in which the assertions were made. Interestingly, reference to such was strongly recommended by Velma Hylton herself in her response at the time. See Hylton Hiccups(2) As an attorney, more so as the PNP Government's principal legal advisor, it is of critical importance to embark on such research in order to make an "informed decision". Instead the Attorney- General, like all public commentators, soug...

  The Objection The following excerpts of an article written by Balfour Henry, February 2002, seem to form the basis of the objection led by the Member of Parliament for Western Kingston, Desmond McKenzie:   Excerpt #1   "Miss Hylton also submitted that the security forces had the right to fire on women and children allegedly shielding gunmen during the July 7-10 operation   "If the police and the rest of the security forces had not taken action, to repel force with force that day, I say again, at this point in time, we may still have been shovelling up pieces of bodies in West Kingston," she said.   Referring to the evidence that women "dressed in night wear" and "children as young as six to 12" formed a human shield for gunmen, she commented, "I do not understand the logic behind saying to both the police and soldiers, that because there are women and children in front of the gunmen they cannot fire. "In my respe...

There is growing public controversy about the appointment on Velma Hylton Q.C as one of the members of the 3- panel commission   to enquire into the events of the May 10 , 2011 involved the armed confrontation between civilians and the Security Forces in and around Tivoli Gardens. The stated aim of the exercise was the capture of Christopher Michael Coke aka Dudus, Prezi, Shortman for whom an arrest warrant was issued as part of an Extradition request by the US Government. Dudus reportedly escaped the dragnet; 76 persons were reportedly killed during the exercise; many were detained and a plethora of reports of Human Rights violations and property damage surfaced.   The "Tivoli incursion" occurred under a   Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) administration headed by Orette Bruce Golding who, apart from being Prime Minister, was also Minister of Defence. Tivoli Gardens was considered as the human resource base of the JLP and the fact that it's leader could authourise such ...

The Government of Jamaica (GOJ) has announced the establishment of a Commission of Enquiry (COE) to enquire into the circumstances surrounding the armed confrontation between members of the Security Forces and armed civilians primarily in Tivoli Gardens/ Denham Town area on and around May 10, 2010.                                                                               General Concerns The announcement of the Tivoli COE has been accompanied by an admission that there is no budget as yet for the exercise and no scheduled commencement date. However, the Minister of Justice is hoping that the...

The dual citizenship saga has demonstrated the clear and urgent need for effective deterrents in respect of breaches in the supreme law of the land – the Constitution – by those sworn to uphold its provisions. It is evident that political expediency has trumped principle. Our law makers have effectively turned a blind eye to their colleagues who knowingly and blatantly perpetuate breaches of the Constitution. The offending parties wait to be “discovered” and then take advantage of the pathetically slow pace of justice to prolong the breach. The substantial cost of civil litigation have forced some to fess up and hurriedly take the appropriate action to regularize their occupancy. However, the cost of litigation apart, the offenders are able to keep their ill-gotten gains – the proceeds of their constitutional crimes. As presently constituted, the penalties under the Constitution are laughable and have never been enforced publicly in breach. In the absence of a culture of transp...