An individual’s freedom – that is, the ability to move around and do what you want, where you want and when you so desire as long as it is within the four corners of the law – is a right and privilege that is not taken lightly before the law.
How enshrined this constitutional right and accepted principle of natural justice is, can be demonstrated in the offering of bail to those arrested and charged for offences.
Those granted bail are released on the condition that they undertake to return to the court at some specified time, along with any other conditions the court may impose.
However, the police often object to bail for those with serious charges such as murder, or to granting it to individuals they fear may interfere with witnesses or in some way seek to influence investigations into the case.
When this happens, the accused remains on remand at HMP Dodds until a trial is held and he or she is either freed or convicted. In most cases, due process takes several months however, as occurred recently with Reydon Richards – who was accused of murdering Vivienne Haynes on December 7, 2007 – his matter took nearly seven years to come to trial though he was held within weeks.
What was significant about Richards’ matter was that he was found not guilty of the charge after being on remand for more than six years. However, he may have little hope of compensation for the inconvenience he endured because his remand and final acquittal were part of the due process of the law.
Our concern is the period of time it took to bring Richards’ matter to trial. Notwithstanding the Director of Public Prosecutions and the police force’s concern that people granted bail for murder have been charged for a second murder offence, the fact that Richards’ trial was only completed this week was not good enough. It suggests major inefficiencies in our legal process which must be fixed.
No wonder the Caribbean Court of Justice has repeatedly and harshly criticised the delays in our judicial process.
It demonstrates too, why Prime Minister Freundel Stuart, a former attorney general, along with current Attorney General Adriel Brathwaite, and former attorney general Dale Marshall, each criticised inordinate delays in local legal cases, particularly in the Supreme Court, during a debate in the House of Assembly in January.
Our concern is that justice delayed is justice denied. For anyone to be on remand for that period of time means they were denied their freedom and as a society we need to ask if this is acceptable.
Remand, after all, is not meant to be punishment, but if an individual remains behind bars for such a long period as Richards did awaiting trial, it amounts to the same thing. And given that those on remand are often held in crowded conditions and are treated much like convicted prisoners, this makes the situation worse.
Certainly, if the police are comfortable they have captured the perpetrator in a serious incident, every effort should be made to expedite the trial to bring closure of the matter, particularly for the victims and those related to it.
