PROSECUTORS SHOULD be allowed to appeal acquittal verdicts, says Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Kent Pantry, QC., speaking at a forum, the "Criminal Violence in Jamaica The State/Institutional Response" at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona, last Thursday.
He explained to the audience that prosecutors currently cannot appeal a verdict that favours a defendant and suggested that this could not be considered "justice".
"I propose that prosecutors should be afforded the right of appeal at first instance," he said.
This was just one of a number of suggestions Mr. Pantry made which he felt would "go a far way in controlling criminal violence and increasing the effectiveness of the justice system."
Mr. Pantry also suggested that preliminary inquiries be abolished as he contended they both hamper efficiency in getting trials under way and place witnesses in unnecessary danger.
"Before cases of murder and offences involving serious violence are tried, a preliminary inquiry is conducted by a Resident Magistrate. The witnesses are required to give evidence on the incident then, and if the accused is committed to stand trial in the circuit court, the witnesses are required to give evidence again. Not only is this a waste of judicial time but it also exposes the witness twice for court and twice to the possible threat of death," he said.
Mr. Pantry also pointed out that, in murder cases, the judge cannot accept a verdict of guilt or innocence unless it is unanimous. If a verdict is not unanimous the case must be retried and all the evidence called again. "It is proposed that legislation be passed to provide that in murder cases a majority verdict is accepted," he said.
Mr. Pantry said it should be a requirement for the accused to serve a notice of alibi on the prosecution at a reasonable time before trial date. Currently, an alibi is often first put forward when the accused is giving evidence at trial. This, Mr. Pantry said, prevents the prosecution from being able to properly test the alibi.
He also proposed that unsworn statements by accused persons be abolished, as is the case in the United Kingdom, because it allows the accused to make statements about incidents, from the dock, without giving the prosecution a chance to question them.
"Inability to question the accused prevents the prosecution from being able to test the accused's veracity and allows the defence an unfair advantage as the defence is allowed to cross-examine all the witnesses called by the prosecution," he said.
Mr. Pantry proposed that Jamaica move fully toward the international trend of accepting forensic evidence over eyewitness evidence as it is far more reliable because "it does not suffer from the human frailties such as poor eyesight, problematic hearing or mistaken identity." He argued that legislation should be passed to allow non-intrusive samples, such as saliva and sweat, to be taken from a suspect, and to allow court orders to be obtained for blood samples. Currently non-intrusive samples cannot be taken and blood samples can only be taken with the accused's consent.
The last of the proposals put forward by Mr. Pantry was that, with advanced technology, a system should be implemented to allow for court transcripts to be obtained shortly after evidence is given so that it can be used, by judge and council, prior to appeal in order to expedite the process. Currently transcripts are usually obtained when the matter goes on appeal months later.
President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Ian Forte, who was also a panellist at the forum, endorsed Mr. Pantry's suggestions, saying that many of them had been previously proposed.
"I hope you will have more luck than I had at that time," he said, in reference to when he held the post of DPP.
Other speakers at the forum were Deputy Commissioner of Police, Jevene Bent, and Acting Commissioner of Corrections, Earl Fearon.
