THE JAMAICAN Bar Association (JBA), Jamaicans for Justice(JFJ) and the Cornwall Bar Association have expressed disappointment that A. J. Nicholson, Minister of Justice and Attorney-General has "lent support" to the searches which were conducted at two lawyers' offices last week.
The Bar Association said on Tuesday it was reminding the Minister and Attorney-General that not only was he the leader of the Bar "but he is also charged with the responsibility of protecting the legal rights of each and every citizen of Jamaica."
The JBA said it was "disappointed that the Minister has lent support to the unprecedented action taken against the citizen's right to privileged communication with his Attorney."
Mr. Nicholson had said in a news release last week that the Canadian Central Authority had made requests for searches at certain law offices and other premises in relation to properties owned or controlled by Robert Bidwell, or persons affiliated with him. He also disclosed that the DPP would be going to court for a ruling as to whether any breaches were committed when the police searched the offices.
Bidwell, a 53-year-old Canadian national, is wanted by the Canadian government on drug-related offences and money laundering. He was being represented by attorneys-at-law Ernest Smith and Hugh Thompson, whose offices were searched and files belonging to other clients removed.
Hilary Phillips, Q.C., President of the JBA, said in a statement yesterday
that "the Jamaican Bar Association is disappointed that the Minister has lent
support to the unprecedented action taken against the citizen's right to privileged
communication with his attorney.
"Any trespass on this right tramples on the very foundation of the administration of justice and denies the citizen a fair trial protected by the Constitution.
"We are even more alarmed about the support particularly because the statute (the Mutual Assistance (Criminal Matters) Act under which the police purported to act) does not expressly permit the search of the attorney's office, nor does the statute offer any safeguards for the protection of privileged communication between attorney and client.
"We call upon the Attorney-General to take immediate steps to ensure that there is no recurrence of this flagrant breach of the citizens' constitutional rights," the JBA said. The Cornwall Bar Association at an Extraordinary General Meeting on Monday afternoon, passed a resolution supporting their colleagues in their court action to determine whether the searches were constitutional.
"We are of the considered opinion that the confidences communicated by a client to his attorney must remain inviolate at all times, if the public is to have reverence for the law and confidence in it guardians," said the Association's president, attorney Clayton Morgan in a statement to The Gleaner on Tuesday.
Mr. Morgan noted that, while attorneys were not "sacred cows" whose offices are immune from search, the legal system allows for the State to obtain information without violating the principles of the legal profession.
"We further believe that the legal system has mechanism to enable the State to obtain relevant information for the prosecution of accused persons without violating the principles of the legal professional privilege," the statement said.
Jamaicans for Justice said it viewed with "deep alarm" the searches on the offices of the attorneys and fully supported the Bar Association's decision to protest, "and strongly urges the legal fraternity to ensure that this very dangerous action by the police, instructed by the Director of Public Prosecutions, authorised by a respected Resident Magistrate and sanctioned by the Attorney-General, with the issuing of a press release, does not go unchallenged in the Jamaica Courts."
JFJ said that the Bar Association's strong stand in the matter was essential if the rights of all Jamaicans are to be protected.
