The fallout from the bungled case of Brent Thomas and the scathing comments of Judge Devindra Rampersad continued throughout the week. Last Monday the National Security minister in a televised press conference sought to distance the Cabinet and himself from the police actions addressed in that case. He noted that the decision would be appealed, which is his right as was the judge in making his comments.
In the process, the National Security minister became discombobulated. Whatever his annoyance with the judge, he is a cabinet minister who took an oath to uphold the Constitution. Yet he undermined the very institutions he swore to defend when he responded to a reporter saying “Criminals have friends everywhere in this country. They have them in the Police Service, they have them in the Customs, in the Immigration, in the Defence Force, they have them in the Judiciary, they have them in the Parliament.”
No one is above the law, not the Cabinet, the Judiciary, the police, the Defence Force, or any person or government department. There is due process. It applies to everyone to ensure that citizens’ rights as enshrined in Section 4 of the Constitution are upheld. The Extradition (Commonwealth and External Territories) Act Chapter 12:04 sets out the procedure. The Caricom Arrest Warrant Treaty involves a shorter process and there were calls for its enactment by Caricom’s prime ministers when discussing crime two weeks ago. But it is not law and cannot be relied on.
The AG is reported as saying that “informal procedures” have been used six times in the past. Such informal and extrajudicial processes are illegal and a slippery slope that can easily lead to an abuse of power. Calls for an inquiry by Barbados and T&T AGs are a fig leaf. Who has the authority to direct police, air traffic control, and immigration, in two different countries, arrange a military plane, and authorise police officers to travel from one country to another? State institutions are clothed with tremendous power. That is why they are kept separate, to prevent abuse. When there are breaches the taxpayer pays the cost.
Whilst the Constitution enshrines the separation of powers between the Executive and the Judiciary and other branches of the State, it is the Cabinet’s responsibility to ensure that they all work together. This requires a responsible, mature, and intelligent approach, particularly when things go awry as the judge remarked in the case of Brent Thomas. Yet it is Brent Thomas’s right to defend himself and the court’s duty to adjudicate the matter. However difficult it is to accept, the National Security minister must uphold the process and respect the institutions of the State. His words demonstrate that he lacks the gravitas and command required for the position which he now occupies.
The prime minister’s latest rant, to wit “There are too many people who either can do nothing, who are not prepared to do anything but quick to blame everybody else for their circumstances, and I am just so fed up with so many of those people who have permeated our society … such people need to be called out” apply equally to himself and Minister Hinds. They both have been quick to blame everyone and avoid either taking responsibility or accountability.
When one cannot stand the heat, it is best to get out of the kitchen.