Avoid more litigation, seek to compensate victims of SOE abuse, Opposition urges

The parliamentary opposition  is urging the government to establish a committee to conduct an investigation and compensate persons who were detained unlawfully during the 2018 State of  Emergency in St. James.

Senator Scott-Mottley, Opposition Spokesman on Justice, is recommending that the authorities go this route in the wake of Friday's Supreme Court ruling that several provisions of the 2018 Emergency Powers Regulations were unconstitutional.

Attorneys have predicted that the $17.8 million award to taxi operator Roshaine Clarke, whose fundamental rights the court ruled were violated, will open a floodgate of lawsuits against the state by persons who were detained under the State of Emergency.

Senator Scott-Mottley told Radio Jamaica News that it may be a good idea for an assessment to be done and the matter settled out of court.

She has suggested that the Public Defender's report on the detention of persons under the emergency measure could serve as the basis for analysis in addressing the matter.

The Public Defender told a parliamentary committee in January 2019 that nearly 4,000 persons were detained during the St James State of Public Emergency.

Only four per cent of the detainees were charged, mainly with minor offences.

Senator Scott-Mottley noted that there is a provision for compensation in the Emergency Powers Act although it does not outline a method for doing so.

Agreed

Attorney Clive Munroe has agreed that the government might need to set up a mechanism to deal with possible claims for compensation for unlawful detentions under the State of Emergency.

Munroe believes the government might still find itself in problems even if  it adjusts the emergency powers regulations.

Speaking Sunday on Radio Jamaica’s That’s a Rap, he observed that, while Friday's court ruling pointed to unconstitutional aspects of  past regulations, there was a more critical aspect of  the ruling, relating to the actual use of  states of  emergency and detentions for crime fighting.

Attorney-at-law Nicole Gordon, who was also on That’s a Rap, stressed that if  the government is going to be using states of  emergency it must have protections in place to prevent the detention of  regular citizens.