00:00 Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley, who chairs the National Security Council, responded to a question
00:05 during the conversations with the Prime Minister event on Tuesday night about a judgment made by
00:10 High Court Justice Frank Cipesad on Monday about a seven-year delay in the granting of a firearm
00:15 user's license to a Tobago businessman. The experts reported that the judge stated,
00:20 quote, "It is simply outrageous that a sitting police commissioner would elect to adopt a 'well
00:26 I have plenty to work do' stance in defense of the delay," unquote, which had transpired in the matter.
00:33 TV6 News has since seen a copy of the judgment.
00:36 "What I discovered was that the commissioner herself did not put in an affidavit in the court."
00:46 The Prime Minister said a senior member of the police service put that affidavit in the court.
00:52 "Unfortunately, it is ascribed to the commissioner and that don't look good and didn't make the
00:58 commissioner look good and of course the judge, I think, went overboard in excoriating the
01:08 commissioner who incidentally was not personally responsible for that affidavit. It was an officer
01:15 of her department but I say she takes responsibility because at least she should have known what was
01:21 being said in her name." The Prime Minister also said he discovered that in-house lawyers for the
01:26 police service cleared the affidavit. "Because anybody would have been provoked by such a foolish
01:33 statement but more importantly when the government is taken to court, whether it is the Prime
01:40 Minister, the Commissioner, police officer, there are such serious implications that the government
01:46 must always be represented by proper high-level competent lawyers." Prime Minister Rowley said he
01:54 could not argue with the judge who received the affidavit. However, the Prime Minister gave Police
01:59 Commissioner Eula Heaworth Christopher a pass on that matter as he had a message for the judiciary.
02:05 "Under our system of governance, policy is for the cabinet and approved by the parliament.
02:16 So activist judges who speak as though they could make the policy and guide public servants what to
02:22 do. I am saying that the government's policy ought to be respected. The government has no policy
02:31 to arm the population." The Prime Minister did not mention the name of any judge. "A PNM government
02:37 has a different approach. We get firearms into the population in a controlled and service way,
02:44 screened and we are not here about talking about because you have crime in the country
02:50 that everybody is entitled to a gun and therefore the judge says so. Policy is for the cabinet."
02:58 Jule Brown, TV6 News.
03:02 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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