Former attorney general Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj didn’t call any names yesterday but he was clearly taking issue with the approach of the Government and the Prime Minister in dealing with crime.
Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley has stated repeatedly the Government’s (anti)crime plan is to equip the police to do their job.
Speaking at a news conference in San Fernando, Maharaj, who presented broad policy directions on security and crime, stated: “The law enforcement agencies do not go up for elections. The electorate elects the Government based on its promises at election time to govern the country.
“No Government therefore can use as a defence, if there is an upsurge in crime in the country and citizens are not being protected, [a position]…that it is the job of the police to deal with those matters and for the Government to wash its hands.
“The electorate did not elect the Commissioner of Police or the law enforcement agencies to govern the country. The electorate elected the Government and the Government is responsible and accountable to the people through the Parliament….
“The Government, therefore, has a legal and political responsibility to take the appropriate action….to see that the Police Service is in the position to deal with the crime problem…The buck stops with the Government.”
Withdraw crime bills
Maharaj said it appeared there “has been a complete breakdown of advance strategic planning to combat crime in the country”.
Lamenting the abysmally low detection rate, he said: “If the Government does not take steps to see that law enforcement agencies catch the criminals, any alleged reform to provide trial by judge instead of by jury, or to abolish preliminary enquiries or to implement the death penalty, would become academic issues.”
Maharaj was not optimistic about the two bills—currently before Parliament—and their ability reduce the backlog or delays in the criminal justice system and he called for more consultation on both measures.
Noting the statements made by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and the view that this bill would further clog the criminal justice system, he said Government had a duty to withdraw the bill to abolish preliminary enquiries.
He said further consultation and study on its impact on the delays in the justice system is needed.
He also stated the trial-by-judge-alone bill would increase the delays in the criminal justice system because it would increase the burdens of High Court judges sitting in the Criminal Court.
“Therefore the rationale for passing this law is misconceived,” he said.
He also stated proper and adequate consultation with the legal profession and the public should be done before Government decides whether or not to proceed with this bill.
PNM crime failure
Maharaj said the People’s Partnership had failed to fulfil its election promise to bring crime under control and the People’s National Movement was similarly failing.
He stated: “The criminals are …beating the system and if this continues without having the problem [of the low detection rate] addressed, there is a high risk that the rule of law in our country would be overthrown and the country would become unmanageable and ungovernable.”
He called on the Government to focus on having the DNA Act, originally passed in 2000, repealed in 2007, and then repealed and introduced again in 2012, implemented.
Maharaj also called for the overhaul and purging of the existing investigative units of the Police Service and the reassessment of the intelligence networks, with consideration being given to having undercover agents—immediate changes to the Witness Protection Units so that persons who witness crimes would be induced and encouraged to come forward to testify.
He said the National Security Council ought to “take the responsibility for ensuring that these matters and any other matter which it considers necessary, are delivered as a matter of urgency within a short time-frame”.
Maharaj said the Government must also take steps for the Commissioner of Police, in the meantime, to have an investigative team, vetted by reliable intelligence, to work in detecting the murders and serious crimes which occurred in this year, 2017, seeking the help of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Britain’s Scotland Yard investigators to work with this team to detect the murders of 2017, “in order to send a signal to the criminal elements that they would be caught if they commit murders and serious crimes”.