A debate has started among local lawyers on who triggered the process that ended up with former Magistrate George Prime spending three days at the Richmond Hill prison on a charge of Contempt of Court.
A senior lawyer told THE NEW TODAY that there existed a Committal Order to send Prime to prison in connection with a payment plan for monies owed.
He was specifically asked to comment on whether a Registrar of the Supreme Court has the powers like a judge to pull in a person for default of payment and send them to prison.
He said: “That may be customary practice but where you’re dealing with a man’s constitutional right and the denial of his liberty as a consequence of a breach of an Order of the Court, you have to give him the opportunity to be heard in his defense.
“It must as a matter of Human Rights law – you cannot imprison him because imprisonment is the final punishment that could be administered upon him and the protection of law, the provision of the Constitution and his right to security of person and liberty – the liberty of the subject is paramount.
“You can’t send him to jail despite of any Order without giving him the opportunity to be heard as to why there’s a breach.”
According to the seasoned lawyer, this aspect of the issue can be considered to be “very fundamental constitutional law.”
“That is in the Constitution – you can’t deny a man of his liberty as a consequence of a breach of an order unless he’s brought to the court to explain why he has breached it.”
He referred to the current situation involving former Magistrate George Prime as “very sensitive” at the moment.
The attorney is questioning who actually signed the “Committal Order” for the Judiciary to hand over Prime to the Commissioner of Prison.
“The Registrar can’t deliver a man in jail in breach of his Constitutional Right,” he said.
The senior lawyer is adamant that the Registrar cannot do that and has the responsibility of going back to the judge to get him/her involved in the process.
However, a retired senior police officer who is familiar with the issue indicated that a Magistrate, Judge or Registrar can sign a Committal Order to send an individual to the Richmond Hill prison.
“The Registrar can sign it (Committal Order) in Judgment Debtor cases where it is said to pay an amount in a time and in default you go to prison. The Registrar doesn’t have to go back to the court for the Judge to sign it,” he said.
When contacted, a retired Magistrate said he used to sign warrants to commit persons to prison but is not aware if a Registrar can do the same.
Speculation is rife that attorney-at-law Nigel Stewart would have notified the Court that Prime failed to pay the money based on the Consent Order and the process was then triggered for the Police to apprehend him and then hand him over to the prison authorities.
Justice Actie has vehemently denied in open court on Monday that she signed the Committal Order in the Prime case.
