THERE HAS long been something irregular, it seems to us, about the ease with which search warrants are obtained from justices of the peace (JPs). Warrants are incredibly important. With them, homes can be invaded, business premises searched, assets seized and people arrested. Yet, there is the perception that the process is not rigorous; that JPs have often been approached by policemen to rubber stamp mere suspicions and not reasonable grounds for belief; and that the ease with which these documents are procured speaks to nefarious intentions, if not malice.
That is the backdrop to the situation which has arisen involving the Justices of the Peace Association of TT (JOPATT) and the State in the wake of last Tuesday’s proclamation of legislation to abolish preliminary enquiries.
JOPATT contends the newly proclaimed law creates uncertainty over whether JPs are authorised to sign warrants alongside masters, officials who are akin to judges of the High Court. As the association seeks clarity, the issuing of warrants by JPs will be suspended. While this could inconvenience police officers, we feel it is, in the round, a blessing in disguise.
It is unfortunate the abolition of enquires, a measure decades in the making, has been accompanied by this confusion. It is also lamentable that the association’s queries on this matter apparently fell on deaf ears. It is only proper for all stakeholders to be consulted. At the same time, we note the long and intricate history of this legislative effort to abolish enquires, an effort which has involved at least five successive attorneys general and for which co-ordination has clearly not been a straightforward matter.
But the issuing of warrants is so fundamental, so grave in its implications that better is expected. The concerns of the association should be addressed and clarified as soon as practicable by the State and all relevant stakeholders, including the judiciary.
However this matter is resolved, the opportunity should be taken to contemplate the broader issue of whether it is appropriate for JPs to have as far-ranging a role as they do.
The need for such a contemplation is borne out by the January 2021 High Court ruling of Justice Frank Seepersad, who called for more senior judicial officers to have the power to warrant raids on media houses, saying “the law should be reviewed so as to mandate the involvement of a magistrate or a judge.”
Earlier this year, Justice Avason Quinlan-Williams, in a case involving the raid of a house in Beetham, urged police officers to revisit their lax approach in obtaining warrants from JPs.
It is only right that the law limits the issuing of warrants to more senior officials. If not judges and magistrates, certainly masters, as Parliament has already ordained.
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