Volney pledges frontal attack on crime, reform of judicial system

Justice Minister Herbert Volney told Parliament Thursday criminal activity in Trinidad and Tobago is "wholly acceptable" and vowed to deal decisively with the problem and return justice to the country.

Speaking in the budget debate Volney took aim at the whole system of justice, saying "our criminal justice system is in shambles."

Volney, who quit his job as a judge to run for office, said "There is a clear co-relation between the emergence of a culture of criminal activity and the breakdown of the criminal justice system."

And he promised the Government will soon lead an attack on "all acts of malfeasance spawned by gang warfare and the emerging culture of killing".

Volney noted that legislation to outlaw gang activity in Trinidad and Tobago already exists and added that those measures will address the problem of “unlawful associations.”

The minister also warned parents to discourage their children from associating with anyone who is, looks like or lives like a gangster.

He was emphatic that "Choosing the gang way, associating with a gangster, loving up with a gangster, driving in a car with a gangster will lead to your detention." He added, "The measures will be guardedly draconian, the medicine bitter, Mr Speaker, but they will work.”

He was careful to assure legislators that there is no need for anyone to be alarmed because "due process will be respected" and the innocent will be protected.

Volney warned that some of the change "will come painfully," and stated that killers will pay the ultimate price.

The minister said his goal is to see a system in which persons accused of criminal offences will be tried within one year of being arrested. He said he is preparing a White paper on his crime fighting initiative and promised that meaningful consultations with all stakeholders will take place by November.

Volney gave a preview of what is to come. These include placing murders in different categories, options for trials without juries and an end to the system of preliminary enquiries. He also promised a registry of rapists and other people convicted of sexual offences.

He also said his ministry will seek dialogue with Chief Justice Ivor Archie for the construction of criminal courts along the East/West Corridor, central and south Trinidad.

Volney also took some time to go after the former government.

"It became clear to me that the then Attorney General was involving himself more and more in the business of the judiciary, in a way straddling the line of the Montesquieu concept of the separation of powers, and covertly undermining the independence of the judiciary," Volney charged.

He blamed the PNM administration wanton neglect that created "the mess in the criminal justice system" and looked forward to better times ahead.

"Once we, as a Government and collectively, we as a Parliament, equally bypass systemic and logistic blockage to the arterial system of criminal justice delivery, there is left only the forces of reaction to be dealt with.

"Those who prosper on the inadequacies of the present failed ways of administering the criminal justice. Those who make a living in orchestrating a plethora of adjournments in the way of bringing closure, in order to collect, collect, collect", he said.