Mr. Arthur Dion Hanna Jr has overstated his case against National Security Minister Tommy Turnquest for his remarks "criticising and vilifying the judiciary"

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ON THIS page today - in the Letters to the Editor column - Mr A Dion Hanna, the lawyer son of former governor-general AD Hanna, criticised National Security Minister Tommy Turnquest for his remarks "criticising and vilifying the judiciary". He accused Mr Turnquest of blaming the judiciary for "the state of murders in the country" today.

It is obvious from the facts that Mr Hanna has overstated his case.

National Security Minister Turnquest did not blame the judiciary for the "state of murders in the country".

However, he did say in a talk to Rotarians on September 22 that the courts' growing practice of granting bail to repeat offenders of violent crimes was "greatly contributing" to the country's escalating crime problem.

In other words, the courts were not the cause, but were certainly one of the many contributors to what is now a major security and social problem. As Mr Hanna, a lawyer, should appreciate, his statement of what he alleged Mr Turnquest said and what in fact Mr Turnquest did say are oceans apart. A contributor to a situation is certainly not the cause of the situation.

Mr Hanna also claims that Chief Justice Sir Michael Barnett called a press conference to defend the Bahamas' legal system against Mr Turnquest's "flagrant attack on the judiciary". Mr Hanna interpreted the calling of a press conference by Sir Michael as "of itself a most unusual event".

In fact, this "most unusual event" never took place. No press conference was either called or held. Instead, an enterprising journalist contacted Sir Michael to ask his opinion on Mr Turnquest's remarks and got a commendable interview.

Mr Hanna then criticised Attorney General John Delaney for failing to "defend the rule of law and the honour and integrity of our courts". In the matter of bail for repeat offenders -- which is what is the issue here -- the Attorney General is too sensible a man to make a fool of himself in public by defending the indefensible on this particular question.

And, in case Mr Hanna is trying to turn this into a political football we must point out that during the Christie administration, the concern of legislators over the matter of bail was the same as it is now.

If the Christie government's former attorney general - Allison Maynard Gibson - is to be believed - and there is no reason not to believe her - there was concern even in the ranks of the magistrates.

On May 19, 2006, speaking on the amendment to the Criminal Law Miscellaneous (Amendment Act), Mrs Maynard had this to say: "In conversations with Magistrates, those before whom most bail applications are made, they said they are often shocked to see how many people whose request for bail was denied by them (Magistrates) are back before them requesting bail for another offence committed while out on bail. These people had gone to the Supreme Court and been granted bail."
She then gave examples of repeat offenders continuing a life of violent crime while they awaited trial for a previous offence or offences. Her observations and comments were in lock-step with Mr Turnquest.

She also gave a breakdown of offences committed with a firearm. In 2004, she said, 7 per cent of the 234 persons arrested for fire arm offences were on bail. Also the majority of violent crimes committed that year were with a firearm.

She gave statistics of where ballistic analysis confirmed that a single firearm was linked to multiple incidents, i.e., armed robberies, shootings, murders and grievous harm. In fact, she went into greater detail than did Mr Turnquest at the recent Rotary meeting.

It was for this reason that at that time her government was amending the criminal law, specifically the Bail Act-- as the Ingraham government will be doing when parliament reconvenes next week. The 2006 Bill, which Mrs Gibson proposed, provided for appeal to the Court of Appeal by either the prosecutor or the person convicted where bail was either granted or refused by the Supreme Court.

She felt that the right of the prosecution to appeal on the issue of bail was particularly important "as statistics have shown that persons, while on bail take not only the opportunity to abscond but more importantly to commit further crimes. The police have indicated that persons out on bail sometimes interfere with witnesses either by themselves or through their acquaintances."

For anyone not to understand what an impact these repeat offenders are having on our society - and not to appreciate that they could not commit these crimes without the court's bail -- they would have to be deaf, blind, and live on another planet.

We often wonder if some of our judiciary -- and this includes certain defence lawyers -- are indeed living on another planet, as they seem to have failed to appreciate the lawlessness that surrounds them.

The judiciary needed a wake-up call. Mr Turnquest gave it, and in this he has the full support of The Tribune.

As for Mr Hanna -- and like thinkers -- we invite them to ponder the words of the learned Law Lord, the late Lord Bingham, a former Lord Chief Justice of England:

"...I do not consider it would be right," he said, "even if it were possible, for judges to ignore the opinion of the public. They do not live the lives of hermits; they are also conscious that the gift of infallibility is not conferred on them, alone among mortals.

"So when differences of opinion arise between judges and an identifiable body of public opinion, the judges are bound to reflect whether it may be that the public are right and they are wrong."

September 29, 2011

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Caribbean Blog International

The Privy Council and the death penalty in The Bahamas... Tommy Turnquest on the issue of capital punishment

Turnquest defends the role of the Privy Council


By LAMECH JOHNSON
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THE London-based Privy Council has been portrayed as an obstacle to the Bahamas carrying out the death penalty, but this is not the case, according to a senior cabinet minister.

Minister of National Security Tommy Turnquest told The Tribune the Council's past rulings on the issue of capital punishment in the Bahamas, which was last carried out in 2001 under the first FNM administration, were more about the process than the policy.

He said: "While members on the judicial committee of the Privy Council may have views against the death penalty, their judgments have essentially been more about process than about the penalty itself. And that process itself has had a number of landmark rulings."

Mr Turnquest said these include the stipulation that cases be tried within a reasonable period of time, defined as five years, and the stipulation that the conviction and sentencing of a person cannot be carried out at the same time.

"That process is there for a reason and today it might be someone else, but tomorrow it might be your family member. So we just want to ensure that the process is followed," he said.

Mr Turnquest acknowledged that the government tracks cases closely after they leave the Court of Appeal, but defended the role of the Privy Council as the top court of the Bahamas, saying the arrangement is beneficial for the country.

"The Bahamas has decided for very good reasons not to do away with the Privy Council. The whole idea of having the Privy Council has served us well particularly in terms of our banking and financial industries and in terms of our commercial law," the minister said.

With the murder count near 60 in less than six months and several accused killers out on bail, the government has been called on to follow through with the death penalty, which is on the law books.

Mr Turnquest said he is a strong advocate for capital punishment, but he is also an "advocate for the rule the law."

"I, myself, am a proponent for capital punishment but there is a process we have to go through," he said.

That process includes the Privy Council, which is the ultimate court of appeal - above the Court of Appeal, Supreme Court, Industrial Tribunal and Magistrate's Courts, he said.

Mr Turnquest also defended the government's performance on crime and efforts to upgrade the judicial system.

He said: "The government continues to work with the judiciary on improving the criminal justice system. The government has taken some steps in that regard from an infrastructural point of view, in terms of ensuring that there are sufficient courts but also in terms of human resources and ensuring that we have the manpower and other resources to get it done."

These efforts, he said, have helped cut the backlog of cases yet to be heard.

June 15, 2011

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