Today In the House presents the final part of the Fingerprints Amendment Act 2003, which was tabled in Parliament last May:
(5) Where an authorised officer shows photographs to a witness for the purpose of investigating an offence, the following rules shall apply
(a) the witness shall be shown photographs of at least 9 diffe-rent persons;
(b) each photograph of a person who is not the suspect shall be of a person who
(i) resembles the suspect in age and general appearance; and
(ii) does not have features visible in the photograph that are markedly different from those of the suspect as described by the witness before viewing the
photographs;
(c) the photographs shown to the witness shall not suggest that they are photographs of persons in police custody;
(d) the authorised officer shall not, in doing so, act unfairly towards the suspect or suggest to the witness that a particular photograph is the photograph of the suspect or of a person who is being sought by the police in respect of an offence;
(e) if practicable, the photograph of a person who is a suspect shall be one taken after the person was taken into custody or considered as a suspect;
(f) the witness shall be told that a photograph of the suspect may not be amongst those being seen by the witness;
(g) the authorised officer shall keep, or cause to be kept, a record identifying each photograph that is shown to the witness;
(h) the authorised officer shall notify the suspect or his legal representative in writing that a copy of the record is available to the suspect;
(i) the authorised officer shall retain the photographs shown, and shall allow the suspect or his legal representative, upon application, an opportunity to inspect the photographs.
(6) The Minister may amend subsection
(5) by order subject to affirmative resolution.
9. Section 7 of the principal Act is amended by deleting the word "Schedule" wherever it appears and substituting therefor in each case the words "First or Second Schedule";
10. The principal Act is amended by deleting section 8 and substituting therefor the following
8. (1) The Minister may make
rules generally for carrying into effect the purposes of this Act, and for regulating the work of the Fingerprint Bureau.
(2) Any rules made pursuant to subsection (1) shall be subject to affirmative resolution.
11. Section 9 of the principal Act is amended by inserting immediately before the word "schedule" wherever it appears the word "First or Second".
12. The principal Act is amended by inserting next after section 9, the following as section 10
10. Any person who acts in contravention of
(a) this act; or
(b) the rules made pursuant to section 8, shall be liable on summary conviction before a Resident Magistrate to a fine not exceeding five hundred thousand dollars, or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to both such fine and imprisonment."
13. The Schedule to the principal Act is repealed and the following substituted therefor
First Schedule (Sections 3, 3B, 4, 4A, 7 and 9)
1. Any offence against the following sections of the Criminal Justice (Administration) Act
(a) section 46 (offences under Part II after a second conviction of crime, powers of taking such offender into custody);
(b) section 51 (penalty for harbouring thieves);
(c) section 52 (assaults on Police).
2. Any offence against section 15 (penalties for breach of orders) Memorandum of Objects and Reasons
The fingerprinting and photographing of suspects are widely accepted as essential features of modern law enforcement throughout the world. The Government, in its continuing drive to update and modernise legislation in this area, has therefore decided to amend the existing law in order to standardise Jamaican law in keeping with established practices in most Commonwealth jurisdictions and in the United States.
This Bill therefore seeks to amend the Fingerprints Act to
(a) provide legal authority for the fingerprinting and photographing, without a Court Order, of persons taken into custody in connection with certain specified offences;
(b) institute new schedules of offences; and
(c) increase the penalties for a breach of the rules relating to the work of the Fingerprint Bureau and for breaches of the Act.
