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DEBATE on the six anti-crime Bills, which resumed in Parliament last week, are set to continue when the House meets next Tuesday.
The passage of the provisions has been choppy from the onset, given concerns raised by the Opposition People’s National Party about several aspects of the Bills, which they contend could create a wider window for human rights abuses and further frustrate the already clogged court system.
The Opposition has cautioned the Government against rushing to pass the Bills that have been before the Parliament since 2008 in a kneejerk reaction to crime and the offensive launched against the state by gunmen in West Kingston last month, which effectively locked down the country’s capital for three days.
The administration has asked that the Bills — an act to amend the Bail Act; and an act to make interim provision extending the powers of arrest and detention under Sections 50B and 50F of the Constabulary Force Act; an act to further amend the Firearms Act; an act to amend the Offences Against the Person Act; an act to amend the Parole Act and an act to make interim provision in relation to the grant of bail in specified circumstances — be passed in time for Parliament’s summer recess in July.
But so far the Opposition has contended that the Bills, specifically the act to amend the Bail Act; and an act to make interim provision extending the powers of arrest and detention under Sections 50B and 50F of the Constabulary Force Act, carry features which are cause for concern.
When the debate resumed yesterday, the Opposition carried through on the stance adopted from the onset.
“I will not be able to support the Bills in the present form,” Opposition member of Parliament Colin ************an said after presenting his arguments.
“The more I think about being placed in a bail for 60 days is the more I think this is not something I could support. What these Bills should seek to achieve is not to impose detention of 60 days without bail but rather to give support to the judicial system, to provide the courts with electronically driven databases, to fast-track outstanding cases and provide a legal aid programme that is more friendly and accessible,” ************an said.
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/...inue-next-week
The passage of the provisions has been choppy from the onset, given concerns raised by the Opposition People’s National Party about several aspects of the Bills, which they contend could create a wider window for human rights abuses and further frustrate the already clogged court system.
The Opposition has cautioned the Government against rushing to pass the Bills that have been before the Parliament since 2008 in a kneejerk reaction to crime and the offensive launched against the state by gunmen in West Kingston last month, which effectively locked down the country’s capital for three days.
The administration has asked that the Bills — an act to amend the Bail Act; and an act to make interim provision extending the powers of arrest and detention under Sections 50B and 50F of the Constabulary Force Act; an act to further amend the Firearms Act; an act to amend the Offences Against the Person Act; an act to amend the Parole Act and an act to make interim provision in relation to the grant of bail in specified circumstances — be passed in time for Parliament’s summer recess in July.
But so far the Opposition has contended that the Bills, specifically the act to amend the Bail Act; and an act to make interim provision extending the powers of arrest and detention under Sections 50B and 50F of the Constabulary Force Act, carry features which are cause for concern.
When the debate resumed yesterday, the Opposition carried through on the stance adopted from the onset.
“I will not be able to support the Bills in the present form,” Opposition member of Parliament Colin ************an said after presenting his arguments.
“The more I think about being placed in a bail for 60 days is the more I think this is not something I could support. What these Bills should seek to achieve is not to impose detention of 60 days without bail but rather to give support to the judicial system, to provide the courts with electronically driven databases, to fast-track outstanding cases and provide a legal aid programme that is more friendly and accessible,” ************an said.
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/...inue-next-week
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