IT'S THE LAW OF THE LANDANDRE BAGOO Friday, September 3 2010
THE DEATH penalty is “the law of the land” and a debate on the issue “does not arise”, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar said yesterday amidst increased Cabinet turbulence over the issue and in the face of legal obligations which at present effectively prohibit the execution of most murderers.
Speaking at a post-Cabinet press briefing at the scenic seafront Coco Reef Resort at Store Bay in Tobago, the Prime Minister revealed moves to bring legislation to allow for the categorisation of different degrees of murder and of the possibility that hangings may resume for the most severe cases of murder.
“It is the law of the land and therefore I do not understand the debate,” Persad-Bissessar said.
“The law is on our statute books. It is the rule of the law. We will act according to the rule of the law.”
While she had, during the 2010 General Election said it was for the people to decide this issue, the Prime Minister appeared already convinced that the general population supports capital punishment. She also argued that although there will be differences of opinion, the law presents a categorical imperative.
“There is nothing wrong with people having personal views on issues, but at the end of the day it is the collective view that is the important one. At the end of the day it is the will of the people. That is the law of Trinidad and Tobago. Therefore the debate, in my respectful view, does not arise.”
She traced differences of opinion on the issue to differing views on Judeo-Christian values.
“The death penalty is the ultimate penalty...it comes from the Old Testament, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. There are some people who do not want the Old Testament, they prefer the New Testament and that is where you get the difference of opinion. It is something we have to talk through.” She noted that the death penalty is imposed for the offences of murder and treason but hinted at the revival of plans, left lingering by the last UNC administration, to introduce the classification of murders into degrees of severity.
“One of the things that I am working on with my (Cabinet) is the categorisation of murders into degrees of murder,” she revealed. Noting that all cases of murder get slapped with a penalty of death upon conviction automatically, she questioned why this should be.
“We have been saying this from days before or years before...It is something that we are considering actively and our legislative committee is addressing that.” She said there is no ban on hanging currently, but rather the “bug bear” of Privy Council authority which places a five-year time limit beyond which executions cannot occur. “Hangings have never been on hold. Have they been on hold?” she asked.
But while she was strident that the law of the land will be enforced, she was not willing to go so far as to suggest that the jurisdiction of the Privy Council be removed in order to clear the way for certain hangings five years after sentencing.
“Should we remove the barriers? We cannot remove certain barriers... I do not think that we can override the Privy Council ruling,” she said. But she added in relation to possible cases that fall outside of the Privy Council limits, “our justice system is one of three strikes and you are out. For the time being, that is the law of the land. And as far as we can we will abide by the law and implement the rule of the law in Trinidad and Tobago....The official Government policy is that we will abide by the law of the land.”
Persad-Bissessar said that Trinidad and Tobago, under the last UNC administration, withdrew from international human rights treaties that prohibit hanging. However, she did not address how this country’s membership in public law units like the Organisation of American States (OAS) imposes legal obligations on this country simply by virtue of membership.
The Prime Minister could not rule out that the Mercy Committee, the constitutional body charged with State executions, would possibly meet in the next month. “As we speak I cannot answer that question, I would not want to mislead you,” she said. “In addition to the Mercy Committee sitting or not, we first have to determine whether there are persons on death row, who are scheduled to have the law implemented.”
While many of her ministers have been vocal in their views on the issue of the death penalty, with Minister of Works and Transport Jack Warner, Minister of National Security Brigadier John Sandy and Minister of Justice Herbert Volney all expressing public support for the death penalty, the Prime Minister said the issue should not be debated by Cabinet in public, before it is discussed behind Cabinet doors.
Gently rebuffing her Cabinet, she said, “I have seen that this issue is being debated by persons in Cabinet outside of the Cabinet, which is regrettable...It is most unfortunate. The decision has to be a collective one of the Cabinet, it should be discussed by the Cabinet and shared with the national community. That being said, it is the law of the land.”
While some Cabinet members have privately expressed reservations to the resumption of hangings, Persad-Bissessar denied a Cabinet rift.
“We are human beings. We will have differences of opinion. But at the end of the day it is a collective decision,” she said. “I want to give the assurance I have absolutely no reason to believe that there is a crack or split or mash-up of the Government...None of this has been so far of such grave importance to cause a mash-up.”
Minister of National Security Brigadier John Sandy will today meet with the top-brass of the Tobago police to discuss crime levels, levels which have been linked to the absence of capital punishment.
