Chaguanas West MP Dinesh Rambally is once again taking the judiciary to task.
He says its response to his concerns over its involvement in the Mercy Committee's selecting candidates for pardon has left more questions than answers.
In another media release sent on Sunday, Rambally said the Judiciary’s response, while attempting to rebut his concerns, actually confirmed many of them.
On Saturday he raised a concern that judiciary staff, 13 judicial research counsels and the registrar's office were compiling a list of candidates for the mercy process – the process by which prisoners sentenced to death are deemed eligible for presidential pardon.
Government said in August that it was considering a proposal by the Criminal Bar Association to release 60 prisoners as part of the commemorations of the 60th anniversary of independence on August 31. The proposal suggested the prisoners be released in batches, the first six on Independence Day.
But on Saturday Rambally asked whether an advisory had been established in accordance with sections 87, 88 and 89 of the Constitution who was on the advisory team; what are the criteria for people being selected; and whether the advisory committee was mandated to consider reports after the proposal was made.
“The Judiciary must not only be an independent institution it must also be seen as such. Without an established, transparent protocol for interactions between the Executive arm of the State and the Judiciary, any random communications between the two can amount to an obvious breach of separation of powers,” he said.
The sections of the Constitution on the powers of pardon say an advisory committee will consider applications for pardon and advise the President. The committee must consist of a minister designated by the President, the Attorney General, the Director of Public Prosecutions and up to four other members appointed by the President after consultation with the Prime Minister and the leader of the opposition. It also says the case judge will provide case files for the committee to consider.
On Sunday the Judiciary said in a media release that the Mercy Committee had contacted it through the acting Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of National Security asking for copies of records of the cases of prisoners on death row seeking pardons.
“The Judiciary did not compile a list of eligible people to be recommended for pardon. The list was provided to the Judiciary by the acting Permanent Secretary,” the Judiciary said.
The Judiciary said the registrar in the office of the Attorney General and the Court Administration Unit compiled the case files and summaries because many of the cases were old and the case judges were either retired or dead.
But Rambally fired back, saying if the trial judge is dead or retired the Judiciary still does not have the power to prepare summaries. He said to deal with the absence of a trial judge there must be an amendment to section 89 (1) to widen the circumstanc
