Persad-Bissessar: Trial by judges alone bill flawed

During the debate in Parliament yesterday, Persad-Bissessar said during her caucus meeting on Tuesday she decided the Bill would have gotten an “easy passage” until she read it through.

“I cannot believe after the rigorous process that this Bill went through to reach us here that the level of incompetence being demonstrated...this bill is fundamentally flawed,” she said.

She was referring to Section 67 and 68 of the Criminal Procedure Act. Noting a judgment by Justice Charmaine Pemberton in the matter of Jason Bissessar vs the Attorney General, Persad-Bissessar said the Court found that those sections were “unconstitutional, null and invalid.” “Both 67 and 68 of the Criminal Procedure Act are unconstitutional, null and invalid.

Now we are coming here after the Senate spent days and hours, this is a major flaw in the bill,” she said.

She said Attorney General Faris Al Rawi is responsible for addressing this.

“This is within his remit that after the comments have been made to go in and make the appropriate amendments. I would be accused that I want to mash up the place, I would be accused that we don’t want to pass no bill and no law but if the thing is flawed we cannot pass it,” she said.

She said the Parliament would have gone through “something that is nonsensical” in amending a section that has been struck down by the court.

“If it is I am unpatriotic, holding back the passage of this law or is it that we say bring good law and we will help you with it,” she said.

Following her contribution to the debate Al Rawi told Newsday that there was an appeal on the judgment which was delivered on January 31 this year. He said the Court of Appeal reversed the judge’s findings.

“This gives an example of how ill-prepared the Leader of the Opposition was in this debate,” he said.