PNP hails SOE court ruling as a victory for Jamaicans

 

People's National Party has welcomed Friday's Supreme Court ruling that the multiple and extended use of States of Public Emergency as a routine crime-fighting tool is unconstitutional. 

 

The party said the landmark ruling is a resounding victory for the Constitution, the rule of law and the people of Jamaica. 

 

PNP President Mark Golding said the ruling reinforces that no government is permitted to suspend freedoms under the guise of public safety without meeting the constitutional safeguards of necessity, proportionality, and parliamentary accountability.

 

"The government's unprecedented declaration of 24 states of emergency over the period 2018 through 2023 represented a sustained abuse of an extraordinary executive power under the Constitution and a dangerous erosion of the rights and freedoms of the Jamaican people. The SOE, which is the Constitution's last resort mechanism against crises that threaten to subvert the democratic order of the state, was unlawfully deployed by the government as a tool of routine policing, often incorporating entire parishes and sometimes being renewed without parliamentary oversight," he noted. 

 

Mr. Golding also pointed out that it is significant that recent statistics reveal the marked decline in murders, which has been accomplished by targeted law enforcement measures without recurring SOEs.

 

"This win belongs to every Jamaican who values justice and constitutional order. The People's National Party brought this case to defend the constitutional rights and freedoms of the Jamaican people, and because we believe there are ways of successfully overcoming Jamaica's problems of violent crime without violating our Constitution. We will remain steadfast in advocating for holistic rights-respecting strategies to secure our communities and strengthen Jamaica's democracy and our system of government," the PNP president declared.

 

The case against the government was brought by the People's National Party's General Secretary, Dr. Dayton Campbell.