Edward Seaga, former prime minister of Jamaica, gives a lecture on behalf of the Norman Manley Law School Students' Association, which was presenting the Norman Manley Lecture 2009 on 'The Charter of Rights and the New Dynamics for Development'. The lecture was held at the University of the West Indies, Mona campus, on Monday. Looking on is Marcia Robinson from the law school. - Winston Sill/Freelance Photographer
Edward Seaga, former prime minister of Jamaica, is again advocating for full entrenchment of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms to better protect the liberties of Jamaicans.
The charter, which will replace Chapter Three of the Jamaican Constitution, has been languishing in Parliament for more than 16 years.
Addressing law students at the 2009 Norman Manley Lecture inside the Norman Manley Law School at the University of the West Indies, Mona, Monday evening, Seaga underscored that the adoption of the Charter of Rights would lead to fairer treatment of all Jamaicans under the law and fuller security of their fundamental rights.
He says, for instance, once the articles obtained in the charter are adopted, it would not be possible for the Government to sustain a state of emergency for longer than two weeks without the approval of the Opposition.
Right to review
Nor can any extension of the period exceed three months at a time, Seaga said.
"Additionally, the basis upon which an emergency can be declared can be challenged in a court of law. Further, any person detained will have a right of review within six weeks, not six months, and the hearings will be by a tribunal whose findings must be accepted by the authorities," he added.
Seaga, however, emphasised that the entrenchment of the Charter of Rights will mean nothing if it cannot be enforced on behalf of the poor and disadvantaged. Drawing from a proposal he made during his contribution to the 1993 Budget Debate, Seaga said it was necessary to establish the post of an advocate general, within the Constitution, to act as a prosecutor in circumstances where the State abused its power. The post was adopted and renamed public defender.
"The attorney general, in the eyes of the public, often fails to play the role of an impartial officer of the system of justice," Seaga said. "And as we have seen, party political considerations do override public interest ... . It is on this basis that I propose the post of advocate general," he added.
Seaga, who served as prime minister of Jamaica from 1980 to 1989, is currently pro-chancellor of the University of Technology, Jamaica.