Dear Editor,
Comments like those offered by the Hon. Justice Roxanne George on May 27th, 2010 are the kind of comments that will never allow me to stay away from Guyana since she represents the cherished few who still believe in a just society and are not serving for personal aggrandisement and wealth accumulation. Thank you Hon. Justice George for your inspiration to the nation by advocating that justice shall be done for the poor and the powerless. It is a national disgrace that the DPP’s Chambers and the Police Prosecutors as a collective have failed the people in the basics of justice -“ei incumbit probatio qui dicit, non qui negat” (Latin form – the burden of proof rests on who asserts, not on who denies). Viscount Sankey in his famous ruling in Woolmington v DPP [1935] AC 462 first articulated this position with his famous “Golden thread” speech.
We have a strategic problem in the judicial system in Guyana, it is a third rate deliverer of justice especially if you are poor and cannot raise bail money. The Hon. Minister of Finance in his Budget 2010 speech spoke of spending $1.4 billion on the judicial sector in 2009 and yet an innocent man (until proven guilty)- Justin John is languishing in jail for seven years because the prosecutorial system is ill-equipped and unwilling to deliver justice in a timely manner. It is unfortunate that after all these years, our policy makers do not understand that development is not how much money we spend, but how much of that money actually benefits the intended beneficiary. This $1.4 billion was spent to do the following:
• help clear the backlog of cases by making the courts more efficient and accountable (an allegation still remains against one senior Judicial Official who made $20 million in extra remuneration in 2007 from this project but the backlog still remains today. The AG should really do a value for money audit of the expenditure in the judicial system and then we will really find out where all these billions are going since it is certainly not helping Justin John);
• strengthen the linkage between the judiciary and the Police and the Chambers of the DPP to more effectively serve justice and
• improve access to justice for all (Pass mark – Fail!).
Well we are nowhere near accomplishing these objectives and we are told by the Hon. Minister that $1.7 billion will be spent in 2010 to continue more of the same but yet in June 2010, Justin John, an innocent man (until proven guilty) has served seven years in jail. Has the intended beneficiary of justice benefited from the billions of dollars spent?
How can a Government postulate that it is a working class Government and its record of delivery just does not impact on the lives of the masses? Who is this Jagdeo administration really serving? Itself, friends, and family? But the independent media, the opposition parties and civil society have a bigger responsibility to flesh out the corruption since by the end of 2010 over $3 billion would have been spent by this regime on the justice sector and the tangible evidence is just not there to justify this expenditure.
Justice was denied to this man, and even if he is a non-English speaking Amerindian, he is not a child of a lesser god. He has equal rights like the DPP or any of her officers. It is time the DPP bite the bullet and surrender those cases she has inadequate evidence on.
As the Officer in Charge of Prosecu-tion in Guyana she has the mandate to bring speedy closure to those cases she has no or weak evidence for. It is not Justin John’s fault that the investigative skill of most of the members of the Police Force is poor.
I want to congratulate Hon. Justice George for having the courage of conviction to advocate for justice for all regardless of their social status. The burden of proof is on the prosecution and their slothfulness must not be rewarded by the incarceration of this man. They are tasked with the responsibility to collect and present enough compelling evidence to convince the Judge of the facts. The DPP and the Police had seven years to present evidence against prisoner Justin John beyond reasonable doubt and thus there is no excuse for them failing to do their job. In a case like this, the law provides for prisoner Justin John to be acquitted.
How many more prisoners are off the DPP’s radar? How can a country develop when one of its core institutions fails to function even after the Government has invested US$50 million ($10 billion) to support it? It is not down to money only, it is down to the people we put in these positions and whether they are capable of delivering their mandate.
It is up to the Independent Media to ask the tough questions of the DPP, Attorney General and the Home Affairs Minister and the “Kabaka” himself so that this trend of denying justice to the working class must stop. The Hon. Minister came from the belly of the working class and he suffered oppression under the PNC and thus he more than anyone else should understand the travesty of justice being inflicted on Justin John and must use his influence to let justice be served to this man. Why has the Minister of Amerindian Affairs or the Amerindian NGOs not provided legal support to this man who can barely speak the Queen’s English. This is not how the poor and the powerless must be treated. It is just plain wrong. How many more poor people, who cannot afford to raise bail, will be forced to languish unjustly in jail for years because the DPP and the Police have failed to do their job that they are paid to do?
Yours faithfully,
Sasenarine Singh
