00:00Opposition MP for Aruka Lupino Marvin Gonzalez says the parole bill going to a joint select committee
00:06is important to ensure the effective operationalization of the law once it is passed.
00:12He cites several pieces of legislation which were passed but not proclaimed because of institutional shortfalls.
00:19We are prepared to support it. Refer this bill to a joint select committee of parliament
00:24and let us call in the experts from the prisons, let us call in the judiciary, let us call in
00:31the Trinidad and Tobago police service
00:32and all of the other state agencies that are critical for the full operationalization of this bill Mr. Speaker.
00:41The MP notes that the superintendent of prisons will be tasked with preparing a parole report
00:46including a psychiatric evaluation which will then go to the court.
00:51According to Gonzalez, present ills within the law enforcement system can negatively impact the granting of parole.
00:58As this country continues to be under a state of emergency, we are told on almost a regular or weekly
01:06basis
01:06of preventative detention orders being issued for prison officers who are allegedly involved with criminal gangs.
01:19He states a need for a clean-up in this area as well as within the TTPS and judicial systems.
01:27But Attorney General John Jeremy, Senior Counsel, has shut down the idea of a JSC,
01:33saying, quote-unquote, it's a place where legislation goes to die.
01:37Now I want to tell my friend from Aruka Lopino, that this legislation is not going to adjoice them.
01:53The legislation is going to be passed in this House today.
02:07The AG says amendments can be addressed when it returns to the Senate.
02:12He emphasizes that the parole bill was drafted in 2021 under the former PNM administration,
02:18adding that it contains the same 27 clauses but with a few changes.
02:24We made it better and we cleaned up the drafting, we are rearranging some clauses
02:30and essentially the structure of the bill is what is before us today.
02:36According to Jeremy, the country can wait no longer for a stronger justice system
02:41that will stymie recidivism, which is what the parole bill is designed to do.
02:47Alicia Boucher, TV6 News.
02:53Meaning I was able to tie my Gemini's your group yesterday,
02:54yesterday at the gym, if it was 60 years old for us today.
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