Judiciary too lax towards criminals | Letters to the editor

Our Constitution, which forms the basis of our state, has three main governing bodies: the Legislative Branch (Parliament), the Executive Branch (the Cabinet headed by a Prime Minister) and the Judiciary.

Each is charged with specific responsibilities, which, in my opinion, are no less weighty than the other. Each has a complex duty not only to play his part in building the nation, but also to solve the problems that plague our society and prevent us from making progress.

There is no problem that affects us as a country as seriously and urgently as the regional plague of crime, fueled by local criminals and gangs, and the transnational, illegal drug trade.

However, it seems to me that while we place the heavy burden and responsibility on parliamentarians and ministers to solve the crime problem and provide us with relief, no one seems to be asking the judiciary to fulfil its role and responsibilities towards us, the citizens, in this fight against crime.

It was instructive to me when I recently heard the Prime Minister at his constituency conference in Diego Martin read out the sentences in our statute books for serious offences such as weapons offences. These range from ten years imprisonment to 25 years for repeat offenders, and in many cases even life imprisonment. These severe sentences are in force for many serious offences and are part of our laws, written by our legislatures and supported by the executive branch of the state.

However, when I look at the reality of the application of these laws, and in particular the sentences imposed, it is almost never the case that criminals feel the full burden of the law. It seems that the judiciary, at its own discretion, often sees it as inappropriate to impose these severe sentences on those accused of many heinous gun crimes, gang crimes, kidnappings, assaults, burglaries and other all too familiar crimes.

I wonder: is there a discrepancy between the perception that the judiciary has of our society and the reality in which citizens live? How bad does it have to get before the judiciary takes a firm stand against convicted criminals?

This becomes even clearer when I see how easily criminals are granted bail – again at the discretion of judges – for serious offences. Serial offenders are easily let in through the revolving door of our criminal justice system, only to be thrown back out onto the streets in a perpetual cycle of terrorising citizens once again.

In my opinion, it is the judiciary itself that keeps this revolving door going, and the discretion judges have to be lenient with criminals when it comes to imposing bail and sentences.

With constitutional responsibility comes accountability. And now that crime is pushing our society to the breaking point, citizens are holding our legislators and ministers accountable and demanding action.

However, the judiciary cannot be so untouchable that we, the people, cannot scrutinize its actions and demand that it adapt its approach to the needs of our society.

I call on the judiciary to wake up and acknowledge our reality by conducting some serious self-reflection and re-examining its role in perpetuating and solving the crime problem in Trinidad and Tobago.

Rajiv Hemant

San Fernando