Section 3 of the Anguilla Constitution provides for the protection of an individual’s right to their personal liberty. Section 3 (3) of the Constitution, which is set out below, specifically provides for bail to be granted to persons who may not be tried for a criminal offence within a reasonable time.
“Protection of right to personal liberty
3. (1) No person shall be deprived of his personal liberty save as may be authorised by law in any of the following cases, that is to say—
(3) Any person who is arrested or detained—
(a) for the purpose of bringing him before a court in execution of the order of a court; or
(b) upon reasonable suspicion of his having committed or being about to commit a criminal offence under the law of Anguilla,
and who is not released, shall be brought without delay before a court; and if any person arrested or detained upon reasonable suspicion of his having committed or being about to commit a criminal offence under the law of Anguilla is not tried within a reasonable time, then, without prejudice to any further proceedings which may be brought against him, he shall be released either unconditionally or upon reasonable conditions, including in particular such conditions as are reasonably necessary to ensure that he appears at a later date for trial or for proceedings preliminary to trial.”
The increase in criminal activity in Anguilla has many persons questioning why persons charged with criminal activities are able to obtain bail. The principle that persons are innocent until they are proven guilty appears to be of little significance to some persons. The Judiciary and the Police are being subjected to greater scrutiny and pressure as blame is often accorded to these two bodies for not doing enough to deter criminal activity in Anguilla.
How will the Judiciary and the Police react to this increasing scrutiny and pressure? Will the Judiciary bend to pressure and ignore established legal principles which guide the granting of bail to individuals charged with criminal offences and deny bail where an individual’s appearance at trial could be secured by the granting of bail with reasonable conditions? That is not expected to be the case. The Judiciary is expected to ensure the protection of an individual’s right to personal liberty, while implementing measures to secure their appearance for their trial at a later date.
Will the Police be immune to the greater scrutiny and pressure they are being subjected to, in the execution of their duties? There is a real fear that the Police, to convince the public that they are actively responding to increasing criminal activity in Anguilla, might not be as observant of the individual rights of persons. Should persons be detained for days and questioned for hours merely because of a report made to the police? Should houses be entered (forcibly on occasion) and searched merely because of a report made to the police? Who determines whether the report is credible and justifies interfering with a person’s personal liberty or an invasion of their privacy? What further action is taken before interfering with a person’s personal liberty or an invasion of their privacy? How much information is a police officer required to share when seeking a search warrant? Is a mere indication that a person is reasonably suspected of criminal activity, without explaining the basis for the reasonable suspicion, enough to secure a search warrant? These are all legitimate questions, which are reflective of the growing concern that the Police, in a bid to demonstrate that they are actively addressing the increase in criminal activity, might not be as considerate of the rights of individuals as they ought to be.
When detaining or arresting persons or executing search warrants is there any consideration for the potential smear on the character of the persons being subjected to the exercise of police powers? There is a tendency to assume that if the police arrested you or searched your home, that you must be or have been involved in some criminal activity. Little attention is paid to the fact that many arrested persons are released without further action or that searches of premises often reveal no evidence that suggest criminal activity on the part of the occupants. The police in the exercise of their duty to serve and protect should behave in such a manner that they do not cause a person’s good name to be unnecessarily tarnished .
Our demand for criminal activity to be deterred and for crimes to be solved must not be at the expense of unreasonable interference with the personal liberty of innocent persons. Greater scrutiny and pressure must not be allowed to result in reduced consideration for our individual rights.
