This is an appeal from the Supreme Court decision at CLAIM NO. 2011 HCV06165. The Claimants, respectively sought administrative order and/or constitutional redress under Section 25 of the Constitution of Jamaica. They contended that the provisions of Sections 13 (3) (a), 14 and 19 of the Constitution are likely to be contravened by the first Defendant in relation to them. The relief claimed by the Claimants against the first Defendant are as follow:
i. A declaration that Section 20 of the Independent Commissions of Investigations Act 2010, construed against the provisions of Sections 13 (3) (a), 14 and 19 of the Constitution does not confer on the Defendant, the power to arrest and/or charge anyone for any criminal offence, or for the offence
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Whether Indecom has all the rights of a police officer.
6. Whether or not Indecom is a legal person or an extension of the legislature.
7. Whether or not the controls which exist by law and constitution to the police officers in the exercise of their powers apply to Indecom.
8. Whether or not to ascribe all the powers of a constable to Indecom would encroach on the citizens
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All persons are under a responsibility to uphold and recognize rights of others. This section relates to the entitlement of persons to the due process and protection of law.
Section 10 of the Indecom Act was also raised stating that the act does not only impact police officers but other public servants. The functions of the Commission were also pointed out, how an investigation may be initiated as well as the powers and privileges of the commission.
Mrs. Samuels stated in her submissions that the law has been specific to the tools of investigation to be carried out by the commission in investigations. She went on to state that if the commission was to exercise all the powers of a constable then the tools or powers would not be specifically listed in the Act. She illustrated her point by stating that the right to liberty is not specifically listed in the Act, but it is a right that everyone enjoys. That there is no room to say that the Commission has all the rights of a
The duties of a police officer are to ensure that there is maintenance of public peace and order. In order to perform their duties and obligations they require certain powers, authority in order to perform their duties and this extends the power to arrest. This paper focuses on the decision of the court in DPP v Carr, the amendments on Law Enforcement (Powers and Responsibilities) Act (LEPRA) section 99 and a critical evaluation of statements made by Sentas and Cowdery.
In order to diminish police brutality, excessive force, and prejudice behaviors in the police officers, several actions must be set in motion. The police hiring process, training, in-field monitoring, and disciplinary actions must be adjusted to eliminate discriminatory actions against citizens. Likewise, it is a necessity for citizens to be informed of their rights, civil liberties, and how they can resolve corruption within the justice system. These actions seek to shrink the number of minorities who are racial profiled and brutalized by police officers. A more stringent hiring process, it will help curtail unethical and unprofessional police officers. Police training must be altered so that situations are handled safely and impartial. In-field monitoring with eliminate police officers from managing to catch police officers who brutality handle citizens. Disciplinary actions help to prosecute police officers to break the law. Lastly, if citizen are informed of what they should about corrupt police officers and a poor justice systems.
Hill v. Hamilton-Wentworth Regional Police Services Board, 2007 SCC 41, [2007] 3 S.C.R. 129.Retrieved from: http://scc-csc.lexum.com/scc-csc/scc-csc/en/item/2382/index.do
Individual rights are used by the Constitution of the United States to make sure that no government branch becomes more powerful than the other. This protects society against police brutality. Every criminal justice case must be conducted with fairness and equity, this is due process. Due process gives rights and defense to a suspect in a criminal case. In order to have due process, there are three requirements that have to be fulfilled. They are; evidence and investigation, also known as search and seizure, an arrest, and a documented interrogation.
This section is about the basic unalienable rights that every human should have life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are some of the rights that are talked about in this section. It also talks about how some people have the right to overthrow an unjust government. It states that government should not be changed for light or unimportant reasons. An
Due process is a clause present in the Fifth Amendment of the Bill of Rights and is reiterated in Section 1 of the Fourteenth Amendment. The fact that it is mentioned twice in the Constitution speaks to its importance. Due process upholds the standard that guilt must be proven and not merely assumed. Overtime most libertie...
As seen in this paper it is quite visible that police often misuse and overuse the powers granted to them by the courts and the Constitution. The reader can see that policemen take their powers to far and try to bully citizens into voluntarily giving up their rights granted to them under the Fourth Amendment. Court rulings continuously stand by the citizen and his or her rights. The Supreme Court especially has stated its issue on many of the things going on by police today (Valencia).
The Fourth Amendment has its roots in the heart of English common law. In 1604 in Seymane the English court recognized that no king had unlimited authority to enter into his subject’s home without invitation or a legal reason that had been followed by due course. Following this realization England faced an unprecedented rise in searches and seizures using general warrants. In the case of Entick v. Carrington the legal conclusion was reached that a search carried out in the name of the king was unlawful and lacked probable cause. Entick v. Carrington, the Supreme Court has said, is a “great judgment,” “one of the landmarks of English liberty,” “one of the permanent monuments of the British Constitution,” and a guide to understanding what the Framers meant in writing the Constitution (Boyd v. United States, 1886).
Police officers are faced each day with a vast array of situations with which they must deal. No two situations they encounter are ever the same, even when examines a large number of situations over an extended period of time. The officers are usually in the position of having to make decisions on how to handle a specific matter alone, or with little additional advice and without immediate supervision. This is the heart of police discretion. As we shall find, the exercise of discretion by police has benefits and problems associated with such exercise. The unfettered use of discretion can lead to the denial of citizen rights. Strategies that control the use of discretion are, therefore, very important. The benefits and problems of police discretion and controlling strategies are the focus of this essay.
Discretion does have its advantages. Philip Howard puts forward as an argument that discretion is an essential and inevitable element of public administration. According to Howard discretion is needed to make certain that benevolence is in the manner of governing. He suggest that in an effort to attain conformity with the rules or fairness, more than is normal limited the discretion of public officials in some principle of action adopted by government areas.
This paper will discuss the aspects of the forth amendment rights in relation to the exclusionary rule, exceptions and holding. The facts on deterrence in court and evaluating the ins and outs of the exclusionary rule what is acceptable and admissible and inadmissible in the United States courts and Supreme Court. This paper will exhibit the constitutional and unconstitutional rights and laws. The future goals of the exclusionary rule and instruction of ethical and unethical choices by officers in relation to law enforcement.
Police accountability is an effective way to regulate police officer’s behavior. Police accountability is applied in different ways and with different approaches. Some of these approaches include routine supervision, regular performance evaluations and early intervention systems. Police accountability is implemented by using external and internal controls. External controls include citizen complains reports and internal controls consist of early intervention systems. On the other hand, early intervention systems enhance a police officer’s accountability and overall performance. Police accountability refers to holding each police officer individually, as well as the agency as a whole, accountable for effectively enforcing
In this essay, I will examine the ethical issues surrounding police corruption and discretion in the criminal justice system. I will also define legality and equity and how they relate to police corruption and discretion. Police corruption and discretion are ethical issues that have been negatively impacting the criminal justice system for years. Police corruption weakens the public 's confidence in law enforcement officers. It also hinders the effectiveness of law enforcement officers whose job is to serve and protect. I will also define police corruption and discretion and the reasons behind police misconduct.
Police behavior is different across all communities. In fact, how police react to combat crime is affected by the management style of the various police administrators. Also, local politics will have a strong influence on how police react to crime. When police respond to a call, they will make a determination of the “cost and benefits” of their reaction. How they decide to intervene is based on the net gain to the neighborhood, suspect and the officer himself (Wilson, 1969). There have been several efforts to understand how police use discretion in their day-today operations. One of the difficulties in understanding police discretion, is when an officer makes a determination not to invoke the law, that decision is often not seen by anyone who would oversight over that officers decision, therefore that decision is usually not subject to review from any authority (Wilson, 1969). Police records are usually to incomplete to allow evaluation of non-enforcement decisions (Goldstein, 1960) Full enforcement of the law is not possible due to various reasons, a limitation of officer time, and a limitation of investigative devices. In some instances the police may choose not to enforce the law in order to allow a confidential informant to gather information on another suspect. This is an exchange relationship where both parties have the opportunity to gain so...
Bamforth,N. Int. Jnl. Of constitutional law. Current issues in United Kingdom constitutionalism: An introduction 2011 9 (1) 79-85 doi: 10.1093/icon/mor029 (Date of Access: 12/12/11)