Police Reform, CCJ wait in Parliament’s wings

PASSAGE of the long-delayed Police Reform Bills and legislation to make the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) Trinidad and Tobago’s final appellate court are undoubtedly the two major  legislative items which the Government will be seeking to pass during the new parliamentary session which begins on Friday January 9, with the first sitting of the House of Representatives for 2004. Prior to Parliament’s adjournment in December, Leader of Government Business Ken Valley said Government hoped to debate the Police Reform Bills “very shortly” and at last Friday’s post-Cabinet news conference, Prime Minister Patrick Manning concurred that these two items top Government’s 2004 parliamentary things-to-do list.

“These (Police Reform) Bills have been in the public domain for some time. The Bills have now been taken through the joint committee in both Houses and a report is now before the Senate. Prior to the matters being considered, I certainly propose on behalf of the Government to enter into discussions with the Leader of the Opposition (Basdeo Panday). “I think it is in the national interest that we seek to come to an arrangement before the Parliament so that these Bills can have the expeditious and smooth passage that they deserve to ensure that the country in the shortest possible time, can enjoy acceptable levels of security consistent with our national aspirations,” Manning said. The Prime Minister added that he would seek similar consensus on the CCJ legislation from Panday. Whether the new year brings a change of heart from the Opposition on both these issues (the UNC has refused to support either until there is constitutional reform in TT) remains to be seen.

However these bills will have to wait in the wings as legislative leftovers will be on the menu for Friday’s sitting. Attorney General John Jeremie will ask the Lower House to consider and approve amendments which the Senate made to the Firearms Amendment Bill 2003. Jeremie will then bring back bills regarding the Family Proceedings, to replace the Sentencing Commission Act 2000 and amend the Extradition (Commonwealth and Foreign Territories) Act 1985. The UNC also has leftovers to share with Siparia MP Kamla Persad-Bissessar asking Jeremie if Manning owes any monies to the State due to a 1997 High Court matter, and about financing for the Regional Judicial and Legal Service Commission’s installation ceremony and a subsequent cocktail reception. Caroni Central MP Dr Hamza Rafeeq will ask Health Minister John Rahael to list on a monthly basis the number of neonatal deaths at the Mt Hope Women’s Hospital from January 2002 to the present, along with financial arrangements for new medical equipment and ambulances.