IT HAS been stated that 'justice delayed is justice denied', and this is undoubtedly so in a number of cases reaching many of the Courts in our land, especially the Coroner's Court.
Long before a case actually gets to court there are administrative delays caused by an overloaded system, and in addition, there are other unsatisfactory situations and matters that occur that are completely inimical to the timely dispensing of justice.
INVESTIGATION OF THE CRIME SCENE
The area surrounding a crime should immediately be cordoned off by the police and members of the public and unauthorised persons not allowed into the crime scene.
The protection of evidence is vital to obtaining the facts of any case. All too often we see on television members of the public freely walking all over the area where a crime has been
perpetrated.
In cases where police report a shoot-out with criminal suspects and a life is taken, it is especially important that this investigation be handled in the most professional way.
Members of the Bureau of Special Investigation (BSI) should visit the scene at the earliest possible time to collect all evidence such as spent bullets, blood stains and splashes.
Unfortunately, currently we have situations where the BSI does not visit the scene until days after the incident, and there are even times when it has been alleged that the police have 'cleaned up' the crime scene, thus removing all manner of evidence. It is intolerable for these practices to be allowed to continue.
A court case is based on evidence, and if this is destroyed or contaminated it is possible that the course of justice will be
perverted.
EXAMINATION OF POLICE GUNS
Once it is alleged that a policeman's gun has been used in a 'shoot-out', it should be handed in for an examination, and in addition that policeman's hand(s) should be tested for the presence of gunpowder residue.
Police are issued with rounds of ammunition and they are required to account for any rounds that are used. It is, however, possible for policemen to abuse these regulations by cleaning their guns before handing them in for inspection and by borrowing bullets to replace used rounds.
PLANTING OF EVIDENCE
There have been allegations of guns being planted on persons shot by the police. Guns are retrieved by the police at all sorts of locations; commonly, stolen guns are defaced and their serial numbers removed. These guns are kept in police custody.
It is of the utmost importance that a system is implemented whereby these guns cannot be used as 'plants' to pervert the course of justice.
USE OF TECHNOLOGY
Manpower shortages and a lack of financial resources can affect the outcome of cases. Without sufficient specially trained police investigators, sophisticated laboratories, high tech equipment and scrupulous procedures (as in the case of DNA testing) vital evidence is lost or corrupted.
A 'chain of custody' must be maintained to preserve evidence from being tampered with, lost or destroyed. Careful record keeping and preservation of documents is vital, and there are reports of pages having been removed from documents required to be used in court as evidence.
EMPANELLING JURORS
JFJ has pointed out to the authorities that in one court the same jurors were being empanelled repeatedly, over periods of years, apparently using the jury stipend as a source of income. This practice defeats the principle of random selection of jurors, and needs to be corrected and prevented with a sense of urgency.
In a recent case in Coroner's Court in Spanish Town, two jurors left the Court because they had not been paid their stipend, causing the case in question to be adjourned to another date.
INTIMIDATION OF WITNESSES
Reports of threats and intimidation of witnesses, particularly family members, are by no means uncommon, and the lack of a sense of safety results in vital evidence never coming before the courts. Elimination of witnesses (i.e. killing them) is by no means beyond the bounds of possibility and there is the need for an improved witness protection programme.
RESULTS OF DELAY
Cases can remain pending for years, often resulting in witnesses just getting 'fed-up' with coming to Court repeatedly. In addition persons simply, and quite understandably, forget details of the incident causing their testimony to become unreliable.
These and other inadequacies face persons relying on the Courts for justice.
It would not be impossible to end some of the practices that are clearly not in the interest of justice. Can the Minister of Justice inform the public as to what areas he is giving his immediate attention?
You may contact Jamaicans For Justice at ja.for.justice@mail.infochan.com or visit their web site at jamaicansforjustice.org
