Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions, Jeremy Taylor is urging members of the Kingston Lay Magistrates Association to abide by critical instructions with regard to legal duties they are called upon to exercise.

Speaking at the Lay Magistrates national monthly board meeting at the Peace Centre on Camp Road, Saturday, Taylor said while there was no constitutional right to bail, there was a fundamental right to personal liberty.

He argued that every person who is charged with an offence shall be entitled to be granted bail by a court, Justice of the Peace (JP) or a police officer as the case may be.

"Now you, as a judiciary officer, any consideration of bail given must start with the presumption that liberty is a normative position," Taylor said.

He said any derogation from such fundamental right must be justified with very cogent reason.

Written records

He urged JPs to always seek written records from police officers when they oppose a person's bail due to previous charges.

"Say, for example, the police tell you that the person was a previous absconder. Let them bring you the evidence, don't take only mouth talk," he added.

Taylor also advised JPs to be careful when authorising a surety on a bail application. He warned the JPs that, if they are not factually sure that the person can monitor the defendant and ensure the person's return to court, they should not confirm that person's request.

Taylor further said that the punishment for knowingly making a statement that is false in any material particular is punishable by a fine of $3 million or two years' imprisonment, or both.