Police urged: File complaint now against Tobago man on sex-offence charge

POLICE in Tobago have been told to ensure that a complaint against a Roxborough man charged for sexually touching a seven-year-old is filed immediately so that he can be taken before a Master of the High Court.

Justice Frank Seepersad gave the instruction on April 9.

Before the judge was a habeas corpus application filed on the man’s behalf after he was arrested on March 30. He had yet to be taken before a court ten days later.

In making the order, Seepersad said the continued remand of a prisoner without bail was an imposition on his/her constitutional entitlement, and every effort should be made to ensure due process was engaged.

Attorney for the Commissioner of Police Anya Ramute-Mohan explained the setback to taking the man before a master was primarily because the charge predated the coming into force of the Administration of Justice (Indictable Proceedings) Act (AJIPAA) in December 2023, and previous efforts to have the complaint filed at both the High Court and alternatively the magistrates’ court were rejected.

The charge was laid in November 2023, and two arrest warrants were obtained under the legislation that pre-dated AJIPAA, the (Indictable Offences (Preliminary Enquiry) Act. The Administration of Justice (Indictable Proceedings) Act abolishes preliminary inquiries.

The warrants were executed on March 30, and police processed the man on April 2, but encountered difficulties with having the complaint filed under the new legislation.

Seepersad suggested police who have arrest warrants which pre-date AJIPAA should seek instructions from the police legal unit or the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions to avoid potential delays.

“These systems are meant to address delays, but the price of progress cannot occasion unacceptable constraints on a citizens’s rights.

“You do not want a situation where a citizen is apprehended on a warrant. and then you have to sort out what happens next.”

Seepersad acknowledged there would be teething problems with the new system, and suggested that police have training to understand their role under AJIPAA. He also suggested that the senior officers in each police station identify with their charges those warrants that predate the new legislation, and engage in proactive intervention to avoid further situations that could affect a citizen’s rights.

“Once the process has been engaged, there has to be full compliance with the necessary legislative requirements.”

He also said ADJIPAA could not be used as an excuse.

Ramute-Mohan told the judge the police service had been invited to submit comments on AJIPAA for the effecting of amendments later this year.

“Legislative intervention will take time. The Office of the Commissioner holds responsibility for the conduct of individual police officers who carry out their respective mandates.

“The new process is still in the teething stage, but as those issues are worked out, the court has a responsibility to ensure the rights of citizens are not compromised.”

He further suggested a proper assessment of the legislation to determine whether the police can address the issue of station bail before a justice of the peace, after Ramute-Mohan told him they did not entertain bail at a station level for indictable offences.

The commissioner was ordered to pay the man’s legal costs in the reduced sum of $4,000, although this was resisted by the commissioner’s legal team.

In the habeas corpus application, the man’s mother said she wanted him taken to court so they could make a bail application. She said she feared he would not be taken to court with days passing since his arrest.

The man was represented by attorney Asante Caruth. Chantal Fornillier also appeared for the commissioner.