00:00A high court judge has declared that the Director of Public Prosecutions must exercise his constitutional powers without unreasonable delay.
00:10Justice Frank C. Passard ruled that the failure of the Director of Public Prosecutions to decide whether to indict two
00:17police officers after several years was unreasonable, improper and unlawful.
00:23The case was brought by Sgt. Lester Garcia and Police Constable Dexter Edwards, who were jointly charged in 2014 with
00:31three counts of misbehavior in public office.
00:34The charges stem from a complaint brought by a fellow officer, but after a lengthy preliminary inquiry, the pair was
00:42discharged on one charge and committed to stand trial on two remaining counts in January 2020.
00:49But despite that committal, no indictment has been filed in the six years since.
00:55Frustrated by the delay, the officers turned to the high court seeking judicial review of what they described as the
01:01DPP's failure to act.
01:03In response, the DPP's office argued that the criminal justice system faces systemic delays due to limited human resources and
01:12the large number of matters awaiting indictments.
01:15The court heard that at the time of the case, there were hundreds of capital matters and more than 500
01:21indictments pending in the Port of Spain office.
01:24But Justice C. Passard rejected that argument, saying, quote,
01:28The DPP cannot rely upon administrative inefficiencies and the lack of resources to deflect from the responsibility to efficiently discharge
01:38his constitutional mandate, end quote.
01:40Justice C. Passard acknowledged that the criminal justice system in Trinidad and Tobago may be, quote, unquote, taxed to the
01:47max by rising crime and limited resources.
01:51However, he stressed that the Constitution remains the supreme law and public officials under it must carry out their responsibilities
02:00with alacrity, efficiency and in a manner which does not offend the rights contained in the Bill of Rights.
02:07The judge also examined the impact the delay has had on the two officers.
02:13Both men remain on bail and are required to report monthly to a police station while awaiting a decision on
02:20whether they will stand trial.
02:22In addition, they have been suspended from duty and their salaries reduced.
02:26Justice C. Passard said, quote,
02:37The court also found that the DPP had not demonstrated that a proper assessment of the evidence was conducted.
02:46According to the judge, quote,
02:48It appears that the defendant has adopted a routine and robotic administrative approach and no proper regard was given to
02:56the circumstances of the claimants, end quote.
02:59Ultimately, the court concluded the DPP's failure to either indict the officers or discontinue the proceedings fell outside the range
03:07of lawful discretionary responses available under the Constitution.
03:11As a result, Justice C. Passard issued an order of mandamus, compelling the DPP to act, giving him 35 days
03:19in which he must decide whether indictments will be filed or the charges discontinued.
03:24The judge also ruled that the DPP must pay the officers legal costs to be assessed if the parties cannot
03:31reach agreement.
03:32The judge is a result of the DPP's failure to be filed.
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