CJ Archie says hangings will continue, appeals for T&T to drop Privy Council

Chief Justice Ivor Archie said Thursday although the death penalty is the law of the land he is not convinced that such a move will significantly reduce crime in Trinidad and Tobago.

Archie made the comment in his address at the ceremonial opening of the 2010-2011 law term.

"I am yet to see any persuasive empirical evidence that executions significantly reduce murder or crime rates generally," he said, adding that the decision to retain or abolish hanging is a matter for Parliament.

However he was clear that as long as hangings remain law, the courts will "respect, interpret and apply the law as it is our duty to do so".

The Chief Justice also spoke about the lengthy and cumbersome process of appeals that happen before anyone can be executed. "It takes at least three trips to the Privy Council and the expenditure of enormous time, financial and other resources to facilitate an execution," he said adding that "it almost never happens".

Archie said some of the issues that lead to increased criminal activity include low detection, prosecution and conviction rates.

Archie also stated that it is time for Trinidad and Tobago to end its reliance on the Privy Council as the country's final court and accept the Trinidad-based Caribbean Court of Appeal (CCJ)
"If we have the moral and intellectual capacity to run our own countries in the region, why can we not judge ourselves?" Archie asked.

Archie noted that "many intellectual giants, including world-class legal luminaries who sit on international courts," have come from the region "so the notion that somehow we will receive a superior form of justice from London bespeaks a self-doubt and an unwillingness to take responsibility for our jurisprudential self-determination."

Archie said fairness in making judgments inludes an understanding of history, cultural norms and other aspects of "our behaviour in their societal context", which the Privy Council lacks.

The Chief Justice also stated that he is impressed with the commitment of the new People's Partnership Government to making the administration of justice and priority. He said he looks forward to working with key ministriies on this.

He noted that so far Attorney General Anand Ramlogan has intervened to alleviate the pressures of space in the countryh's courts and offered the use of the Industrial Court building in San fernando for use by the Supreme Court.

"We should be in a position to occupy shortly as the building has already been in use as a court and will not require major modification," Archie said.