Executive Director of Jamaicans for Justice Mickel Jackson has issued an appeal to the Government of Jamaica, to heed the probable implications of the continued use of States of Public Emergency as a viable crime fighting tool.

This plea comes in light of the judgement that was handed down in the Roshaine Clarke case where the defendant was on Friday awarded $18 million for being held without charge in a detention center for seven months under the state of emergency (SOE) that was declared in St James in January 2018.

In addition to the ruling, The Supreme Court also declared that several provisions under the regulations governing states of emergency in 2018 as unconstitutional, unduly giving the authorities unfettered power to abrogate the fundamental rights of a wide class of persons in society without showing that they were reasonably justified for achieving the purposes of the measure.

Jackson also argued that the regulations used to govern the state of public emergency has not been publicized in a timely manner and notes that careful consideration should have been taken by the Government in light of this.

“In the Roshaine Clarke matter, what we see is that the regulations that are expected to govern the states of public emergency, it has not been publicized in a timely matter though that is mandated by the constitution, and we see where several constitutional rights of Mr. Clarke were violated ” Jackson explained.

Jackson further compounded her stance by alluding that the JFJ has also taken issue with a recent observation made by Prime Minister Andrew Holness that the government’s response to crime is being hindered by legal challenges and the constant debate about human rights.

Jackson notes that statements of this nature is often used to excuse the government’s failure to tackle crime. Jackson further noted that citizens rights must also been taken into consideration when making decisions of this nature.