Dear Editor,
Dana Seetahal is a household name in the region. She was a member of a commission of inquiry in Guyana a few years ago, an outstanding jurist, a law lecturer and Senator, who was gunned down in Port of Spain four years ago.
Charges against 14 persons who were charged under the Anti-Gang Act were dismissed on Friday because they were bad in law. Ironically the magistrate used the textbook Caribbean Practice and Procedure written by Seetahal as the authority to dismiss the charges.
Fortunately all of them except one are facing murder charges and are remanded to prison.
The DPP office admitted to laying the charges indictably as opposed to summarily as prescribed by legislation and sought leave to amend, which was denied by the magistrate on the ground that the amendment would be prejudicial to the accused.
Magistrate Cedeno in her excellent ruling called on Parliament to review the gang legislation, as she said there was a mix-up in varying sentences for the two trial processes, as summary trials carry a lesser penalty.
Yours faithfully,
Oscar Ramjeet
