Home Affairs Minister, Clement Rohee yesterday flayed the country’s judicial system saying that it was failing victims of crimes and undermining the hard work of the law enforcement agencies.
He told reporters at a press conference held at the National Park yesterday that since January there were 74 cases in the courts where persons charged with drug trafficking and gun crimes were granted bail. The minister said these developments in the courts had caused the authorities to rethink policies and they would take steps to tighten the laws.
“Where is the justice for those who suffered at the hands of these criminals?” Rohee asked rhetorically echoing similar sentiments expressed by President Bharrat Jagdeo last week about the judiciary. He told reporters that it seemed as if the administration would have to go back to the Parliament and tighten the laws since the special circumstance within the meaning of the law was being interpreted in a way to come down on the side of the criminal elements, rather than on the side of those who would have suffered as a result of a robbery where a firearm was used and cases where persons were found with illegal firearms and ammunition.
Rohee said from January to the present bail applications were granted to numerous non-bailable offenders in respect of trafficking in narcotics, robbery with the use of a firearm and illegal possession of firearm and ammunition. With respect to trafficking in narcotics — 33 bail applications were granted, robbery with the use of a firearms — 19 bail applications were granted and for unlawful possession of firearms and ammunitions — 22 bail applications were granted.
Last year, the National Assembly passed the Firearm (Amendment) Bill, which increased the fines and penalties for persons found in possession of unlicensed firearms. One of the penalties is the refusal of bail for persons who are charged. The amended Firearms Act stipulates that any person, who purchases, acquires or has any firearm or ammunition without holding a firearm licence in force at the time, will be fined between $50,000 and $100,000. For those found guilty, a fine of between $150,000 and $500,000 together with imprisonment for ten years will be enforced.
“I have to emphasise that when this law was passed in the Parliament it was generally understood that when we say that no bail is to be granted, there should be no doubt that there will be no bail indeed… My own view is that we have to tighten the laws and if it calls for more draconian laws, we have to go down that road,” Rohee declared.
He said his ministry was working on an inventory to establish how many persons who were granted bail continued to commit similar crimes.
President Bharrat Jagdeo, speaking last week at the police officers’ conference, called for a more predictable judiciary. For this year so far two men wanted in the US for drug trafficking were granted bail in the High Court. Jagdeo said the judiciary had to be held to higher standards and he called on those who administer justice to be impartial and fair. Justice Jainarayan Singh Jnr twice this year granted bail to persons facing drug indictments in the US causing many observers both in and out of the legal fraternity to question whether Guyana was serious about arresting the problem of narcotics trafficking here.
Barry Dataram for whom the US Government had issued a provisional arrest warrant was the first to go following lengthy legal battles. He was granted bail with the condition that he should report to the police every Friday. This has not been the case.
More recently, Terrence Sugrim, for whom the US had also issued a provisional arrest warrant since 2002 and who was only last year captured, was given bail by Justice Singh. There have also been several high-profile cases in the magistrate’s court where the accused were given bail under questionable circumstances.
Addressing the opening of the police officers conference at Eve Leary on Thursday Jagdeo said that when government puts in place legislation that will provide the police and security forces at large with greater power and better tools to fight crime, a fair and impartial judiciary will be needed. “We have witnessed some element of judicial lawmaking and I hope that you will look into that to see that the judges and the magistrates abide with the laws of the country and the will of the legislature because we need a fair judiciary, an impartial judiciary, a judiciary that is bound by the laws of the country, so we need to work on that,” he said. Acting Chancellor of the Judiciary, Justice Carl Singh, was in the audience.
In an invited comment, the acting chancellor told reporters that he did not know of the cases where judges or magistrates disobeyed the law. He said he was also unaware of the cases Jagdeo was speaking about and as such he did not wish to comment.
Meanwhile, Sugrim, answering to the name Roy Alvarez in the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court last week after being taken there on charges of illegal possession of guns and ammunition was granted bail in the sum of $1M. This came after he had on the day before secured bail in a similar sum in the High Court, following a habeas corpus application by his legal team. Sugrim had been imprisoned after being committed to await extradition to the US to face trial for allegedly conspiring to traffic in narcotics following an extradition hearing in the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court. However, after his legal team filed the application in the High Court, Justice Singh found that many factual errors were made by the magistrate during the hearing and they were serious enough transgressions to render her rulings in relation to the committal unlawful and unfair. Bail was granted in the sum of $1M after an application. Similar treatment was meted out to Datram.
