HENRY
THE JAMAICAN Bar Association (JBA) has come out against the stance taken by the Lawyers' Christian Fellowships on certain provisions contained in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms being examined by a joint select committee of Parliament.
The JBA said in a statement Wednesday that it wished to clarify that the draft charter "recognises the right to religious and political doctrines in the spirit of plurality and diversity that is necessary in a democratic society."
Arlene Harrison Henry, president of the JBA, said the draft provision puts all forms of religious beliefs, observances and expressions on an equal footing. The group of Christian lawyers had expressed a concern that the charter would limit the right to free religious expression.
RIGHT TO PRIVACY
Mrs. Harrison Henry added that the right to privacy is now a substantive right in the draft charter, where it did not exist before, and that it protects every citizen from arbitrary search of the person, respect for private and family life, privacy of the home, other property and communication.
"Far from merely protecting otherwise shameful activities, which occur behind closed doors, the right to privacy protects one's intimate private life from the whim and intrusion of others and ensures the dignity of the person in his/her own personal sphere," the JBA president said in apparent disagreement with concerns that the charter needs to be amended to prevent legal acceptance of homosexual behaviour.
Mrs. Harrison Henry stressed, however, that the JBA was of the view that the list of discriminatory categories in the draft charter was limited and did not include all the categories for protection that are internationally recognised.
