Caribbean News
Legal Year Opens, TCI’s DPP reveals conviction rates
By Dana Malcolm
Staff Writer
#TurksandCaicos, January 11, 2023 – The Turks and Caicos preliminary conviction rates for 2022 were revealed in the recent Legal Year Opening ceremony held on January 4th. Eugene Otuonye, KC, Director of Public Prosecutions made the statistics public but before getting into them he revealed that data was missing in some areas notably January to March but did not say why.
Based on the available numbers, the Magistrate’s court had a conviction rate of 84% with 184 convictions from the 209 cases tried. The cases at the magistrates level are usually minor including theft, break ins etc. or preliminary trials for cases that will move on to higher courts.
At the Supreme Court of the 66 cases tried, 50 ended in convictions based on guilty pleas or verdicts, only seven cases came back not guilty or were dismissed. Sixteen cases were withdrawn, resulting in a 76 percent conviction rate, the DPP said.
Otuonye detailed some of the offences tried during the year citing forgeries, homicides and firearm and ammunition
offences.
Only three cases went to the Court of Appeal, two were dismissed and only one criminal case went to the Privy Council which awaits a verdict.
Several high profile misses in the justice system were recorded in 2022 in both criminal and civil matters, one of which put a suspected sex criminal back on the street. They ranged from a conflict of interest with the police provided translator in one case to huge payouts because of poor treatment of migrants and permanent residents, and improper introduction of evidence by prosecutors in others
The DPP maintained that convictions were not the sole aim of prosecutors.
“While the rate of conviction dismissal and acquittal may more reflect the state of the criminal justice system it can hardly be used to assess the effectiveness of a prosecutor whose primary focus is not to seek conviction at all costs but to act as a minister of justice.”
He admitted that the DPPs office was not where it needed to be but said they were working on getting it better in the 2023 year. The courts of the Turks and Caicos Islands are now officially opened for 2023.
A contrast to last year’s opening which had to be downsized because of emergence of the omicron variant within the Coronavirus pandemic and the attendees having to be spaced out for safety in an open air ceremony, this year was held at the St Monica’s Anglican Church and the Annex courtroom. Attended by members of all three arms of Government.
KINGSTON, April 29 (JIS):
Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, Senator the Hon. Matthew Samuda, says the outcome of discussions arising from the Jamaica National Stakeholder Consultation on Climate Services and the 1st National Climate Forum (NCF-1) will assist in guiding the Government’s planning for climate change.
This, he points out, is important for climate mitigation as well as building Jamaica’s resilience.
“We look forward to the discussions that will, no doubt, take place. We look forward to the basis of planning for the Government to streamline its investments to ensure you have the tools that you need to better advise us, that the WRA (Water Resources Authority) has the tools to digitise its monitoring network, and that all of the agencies that touch our planning mechanisms have the tools. But we need to know what we are facing, and we’re guided by your expertise,” Minister Samuda said.
He was addressing the opening ceremony for the Jamaica National Stakeholder Consultation on Climate Services and the 1st National Climate Forum (NCF-1) at the Courtyard by Marriott Hotel in New Kingston on Monday (April 29).
Senator Samuda said given the fact that the climate has changed and continues to do so, investments in and collaborations on building Jamaica’s predictive and scientific capacity must be prioritised.
“Ultimately, we need to be able to assess our current climatic realities if we are to better plan, if we’re to insist and ensure that our infrastructure meets the needs that we need it to. I’m very happy that this event is happening… because this is a critical issue.
“Jamaica, last year, faced its worst and most severe drought… and this year, we’re already seeing the impacts of not quite as severe a drought but, certainly, a drought with severe impacts, especially in the western part of the country,” he said.
Principal Director, Meteorological Service of Jamaica, Evan Thompson, explained that the forum aims to, among other things, establish a collaboration platform for climate services providers and users to understand risks and opportunities of past, present and future climate developments, as well as improve inter-agency coordination of policies, plans and programmes.
Among the other presenters were Ambassador, European Union to Jamaica, Her Excellency Marianne Van Steen; Chief Scientist/Climatologist, Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology, Adrian Trotman; and Head, Regional Climate Prediction Services, World Meteorological Organization, Wilfran Moufouma-Okia.
The Meteorological Service of Jamaica hosted the Jamaica National Stakeholder Consultation on Climate Services and the 1st National Climate Forum (NCF-1) in partnership with the Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology and the World Meteorological Organization.
The National Stakeholder Consultation is a governance mechanism that guides how different sectors or actors work together to create products that contribute to adaptation and resilience-building. It seeks to create a road map for the development and implementation of climate services to inform decision-making.
NCF-1 aims to bridge the gap between climate providers and users. It increases the use of science-based information in decision-making and operations with the aim of generating and delivering co-produced and co-designed products and services.
CONTACT: CHRIS PATTERSON
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