The Senate is debating the Administration of Justice Indictable Proceedings Amendment Bill 2025, which seeks to restore key powers to Justices of the Peace, including the authority to issue search warrants and grant bail.
Attorney General John Jeremie says reviewing the Act is essential, and that removing these powers in 2023 created unnecessary delays for law enforcement.
00:00This bill, now in the upper house, was passed by the House of Representatives in October
00:06and aims to address gaps in the justice system that have hampered timely investigations.
00:12Since 2011, in the 14 years, the legislation has undergone a series of nine subsequent amendments.
00:23We are informed by statistics presented by the judiciary that Ajepa has, however, been successful in expediting pre-trial hearings.
00:40But stakeholders have highlighted legislative deficiencies, and that is what brings us here today.
00:49The bill proposes the reinstatement of Justices of the Peace' ability to issue warrants and grant bail.
00:58They said that in the absence of GPs being empowered to issue search warrants in indictable matters,
01:06they face practical constraints, investigations that hinge upon the timely securing of evidence,
01:15and that may be digital, physical, or documentary.
01:19have at times been hampered by the unavailability of masters or registrars,
01:27particularly after hours, on weekends, and sometimes on holidays.
01:34He says when such powers were removed in 2003, there was no real rationale to support it.
01:40The amendment that was made in 2020, she was either misinformed or illegal, contrary to law.
01:47That's a fact.
01:48The AG notes that at the time, only three or four masters were employed nationwide.
01:56Now, it will be wrong of me to see that a significant number of masters have not been employed since.
02:07They have.
02:08But the police service say that the situation has improved, but that they prefer the mass of assistance that they get from having GPs perform this function.
02:27But former Attorney General Farah Salrawi says the removal was intentional and aimed at streamlining court procedures.
02:35He says when the justices of the peace are regularized and held accountable legislatively,
03:01only then should they be granted such powers.
03:06The justice of the peace in Trinidad and Tobago without a law such as the Justices of the Peace Bill 2023 is dangerous in the context of indictable offenses.
03:19Because when you look to the breadth of search warrants under section 5 of a jipper, multiple premises, even if you can't name them.
03:30If they're owned by somebody and you find out that they're owned by somebody, yeah, we have a search warrant for X.
03:36We found out X has a property that it's owned.
03:38We go in there.
03:39By a justice of the peace, when you read Brent Thomas, what is the Justice of the Peace Association going to do to discipline that justice of the peace that granted it?
03:53He even offered a personal observation.
03:55I've seen drunk justices of the peace issue warrants.
04:03I'm entitled to speak to my own experience.
04:06What can you all tell me?
04:07This is something that I know for a fact.
04:11Dangerous.
04:12Senior counsel Sophia Choate of the Independent Bench also raised concerns about broad JP powers,
04:20particularly after she perused the list of JPs available on the legal affairs website.
04:25There is someone on that list with a case pending before the court, charged with a very serious matter.
04:36So how are we going to deal with the population of the list and the fact that we are giving broad powers to justices of the peace?
04:50Choate warns that granting JP's authority over search warrants could extend to multiple premises,
04:57emphasizing the need for training, regulation and accountability.
05:00I think Ajepa assumes that the person giving consideration to the application for the search warrant
05:08will take issues like reasonableness into account,
05:13may ask questions of the officer applying for the search warrant,
05:18may say, look, listen, I am not satisfied.
05:22Come back with some additional information for me.
05:26As the bill moves through the Senate, lawmakers face the challenge of balancing efficiency in the justice system
05:33with safeguards to present misuse of power.
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