Caribbean Media Corporation

JAMAICA: Jamaica: Prime minister says he will make death penalty priority if re-elected

22/09/02

Jamaica's Prime Minister P.J. Patterson has promised that constitutional changes to allow for a resumption of hanging will be a priority for his government, should the People's National Party (PNP) return to power after the upcoming elections.

 Patterson, campaigning for a general election here later this year, also promises to move away from the London-based Privy Council, which is the final appellate court in the English speaking Caribbean.

 Addressing members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force on Tuesday 17 September at the handing-over ceremony for new patrol cars, the Prime Minister offered the reassurance that the required constitutional amendments would be placed squarely before the nation's parliament as a pressing issue.

 He said a recent ruling by the London law lords had succeeded in thwarting the will of the Jamaican people by preventing the use of the death penalty as a punishment with legal and constitutional backing. He added that it had also served to undermine public confidence in the justice system and to demotivate the constabulary.

 Regional countries have been seeking to establish their own Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) as a replacement for the Privy Council, the region's highest court. The CCJ will also be an integral part of the region's attempt to establish its own Single Market and Economy (CSME).

 But Caribbean leaders have denied widespread public allegations that the CCJ was being established with the main aim being to allow the regional countries to overcome the hurdles presented by the Privy Council for the execution of condemned murderers.

 The main opposition Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) has voiced opposition to the establishment of the CCJ and wants the issue dealt with in a referendum.

 But Patterson said the matter would be one of the campaign issues of his party.

 "We have made it an issue about which we are going to the people," he said, adding that the party would also seek endorsement for its constitutional changes to make it easier to hang murder convicts.

 In its manifesto, the PNP has proposed to include specific statements in the constitution to overturn the 1993 Pratt and Morgan ruling that executions have to be carried out within 5 years, or the punishment becomes cruel and inhumane.

 Jamaicans Earl Pratt and Ivan Morgan were on death row for more than a decade and the Privy Council ruled it would have been unconstitutional and inhumane to execute persons on death row for more than 5 years.

 Caribbean governments that have also been affected by the ruling say convicted murderers utilize various avenues, including appeals to international human rights organizations as a means of delaying their executions beyond the 5-year limit.

 Media reports here say that while 65 % of Jamaicans were supportive of the death penalty in 2000, down from 80 %, 2 decades ago, pro-capital punishment sentiments have hardened more recently in the face of worsening violent crimes here.

 "In one decision after another, the Privy Council has simply been making it impossible for the law to be carried out," Patterson told reporters, saying that the actions of the London-based court were "undermining the very foundation of our legal system".

In its 80-page manifesto, the PNP also proposes to give murder convicts the right to make written representations when asking the Head of state to exercise his prerogative of mercy but makes clear that the "condemned person is not entitled to an oral hearing".

 "The question as to whether the (local) Privy Council (which advises the governor-general) has validly performed any function vested in it by the constitution shall not be inquired into by any court," the manifesto added.

 The PNP also proposes that the governor-general will be allowed to set time limits within which petitions to international groups must be completed, after which he and his advisers can proceed with their decisions "without awaiting the outcome of such petitions".

 But Patterson has acknowledged that opposition support would be required to get the measures passed through the parliament, given that changes to the constitution would require a two-thirds majority in both chambers.

 Patterson urged bipartisan support and pointed to the Caribbean island of Barbados where the opposition party there had supported the government on its moves to deal with the constitutional problems surrounding the death penalty.

 "We therefore believe as do most of the other countries in the Caribbean that still subscribe to the Privy Council ... ellipsis as received that nothing short of a constitutional amendment will be required," Patterson said.

 "We (the PNP) presently have two-thirds in the House but, as you know, we can't get two-thirds in the Senate. So we are putting it out as an issue and we would expect to hear from the opposition (Jamaica Labour Party) whether this is something they are prepared to support or not," he said.