Panday, Manning to meet again to discuss crime

Opposition Leader Basdeo Panday on Friday accepted another invitation from Prime Minister Patrick Manning for consultation on crime. The two leaders will meet next week for discussions on the Evidence (Amendment) Bill currently before Parliament.

The proposed bill seeks to allow video or audio recordings of voluntary statements of prosecution and defence witnesses, including the accused, and to abolish common-law rules governing the admissibility of "bad" evidence.

Panday agreed to meet with Manning after Leader of Government Business Colm Imbert announced that "a team from the Government will meet a team from the Opposition...to see if we can agree on ways and means of strengthening the legislation".

Panday was not in the House of Representatives at the time but told the media the opposition would meet with Imbert to arrange the government-opposition talks.

The idea of the consultation arose while Siparia MP Kamla Persad-Bissessar was making her contribution to the debate. She suggested that the bill go to a parliamentary joint select committee to study certain aspects of the proposed legislation.

She was particularly concerned about the admissibility of recorded evidence, noting that an innocent person could be convicted and sentenced to death without a single witness attending court to give evidence in person.

She said recorded evidence would be untested by cross-examination.

Manning interrupted her to ask a question. "You talk about a select committee; if we go that route, it is time-consuming and all kinds of things, and we will have to go to recess. Would you consider consultation between the Government and Opposition? Would you consider that?" Manning asked.

Manning and Panday met on Nov. 3 and had planned to get together again after the Commonwealth heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) which begins on Nov. 27 in Port of Spain.

But his comment suggested an urgency to deal with the evidence bill.

The former attorney general advised Manning that she would have to consult with her leader before offering an answer.

She noted that she is wary about making a unilateral decision, noting that the last time she did that "it didn’t work out too well", a reference to her plan to attend a weekend Congress of the People (COP) rally which she cancelled after Panday said he was not consulted on the matter.

The two sides have agreed that the meeting would take place either Tuesday or Wednesday ahead of the continuation of the debate next Friday, when the government hopes to conclude the debate.