JUDICIARY HAS ROLE TO PLAY AFTER SoE SAYS GOV'T

CCNTV6

The Prime Minister has acknowledged concerns about what happens after the State of Emergency, given the announced successes by the police.  In responding to that concern, the Prime Minister spoke about the role of the Judiciary in particular.  Juhel Browne reports.

Transcript

00:00The senior council self-appointed spend the whole evening telling us that we are

00:05breaching the rights there is no greater breach of the right of a citizen than to

00:11be having to lose your life to unlawful action. Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley

00:17in the House of Representatives just after 930 on Monday night as he wound up

00:22the debate for the three-month extension of the state of emergency in Trinidad and

00:26Tobago. Dr. Rowley was making an apparent reference to the contribution made

00:30earlier by opposition leader and senior council Kamala Prasad Bissessa. I recall

00:36the last time we were here in 2011 with extending states of emergency and so on

00:41I think it was a member for legal Martin Northeast was adamant that the extension

00:47should not be for three months that it should be for come back in one month and

00:51give us a review let us let there be a review you're taking away several very

00:56strong powerful constitutional rights for three months forward and there is no

01:00review. An apparent reference to the SOE during the People's Partnership

01:05Administration which was led by Mrs. Prasad Bissessa. When the government led

01:10by Dr. Rowley first announced that the president had declared the current state

01:14of emergency on December 30th 2024 the then acting Attorney General Stuart

01:20Young said there were no restrictions on public gatherings and that there would

01:24be no curfew. And you are so concerned about the semblance and even the

01:30misrepresentation of the government's actions because citizens fundamental

01:38rights are being destroyed by a very carefully tailored state of emergency

01:45that stays away so far from the law-abiding citizen to be minimally

01:52disruptive of the law-abiding. What an appropriate word. The Prime Minister

02:11acknowledged a point by the opposition that may reflect the concern of many

02:15outside of the Parliament. The question arises and it arose in some of the

02:20presentations what happens after the state of emergency and the answer is

02:26simple. We remain engaged and we try to improve our response to the criminal

02:34element and we expect that is not only the government but all aspects of state

02:40responsibility will take it on as a responsibility to respond to the

02:45The Prime Minister then directly referred to the judiciary. There's no

02:51point in the police doing the work and when they get to the courthouse the

02:56criminals are happier than the police. Rights, rights, rights, no responsibility,

03:01no responsibility. Revolving the operating in the bail system, leniency

03:09from the magistrates and the judges. I mean we all have to tell the criminals

03:14we see you, we hear you, we know you, we catch you, we convict you and we will

03:20restrict you. That's what it has to be. The Prime Minister having made his points made a

03:25closing declaration. And I think you're all reasonable. The political arguments have

03:30been heard. We need to extend the state of emergency as tailor as it is, as

03:37inobtrusive as it is to the law-abiding citizen. Let's extend it for another three

03:42months and hopefully at the end of that three months we can tell you that we have made some

03:46significant progress. The three-month extension of the state of emergency was

03:50approved via the government's simple majority. Jule Brown, TV6 News.

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