Former vice-president of the Law Association Hendrickson Seunath, SC, says Senior Magistrate Debra Quintyne will be wrong in law to exclude any journalist from court if they breach the Preliminary Inquiry Act.
He said so yesterday in response to Quintyne's warning to journalists on Tuesday. The magistrate said any reporter who breaches the act while covering the preliminary inquiry into murder charges against six police officers would be put out of court.
The officers, acting Sgt Khemraj Sahadeo and Constables Renaldo Reviero, Glenn Singh, Roger Nicholas, Safraz Juman and Antonio Ramadin are charged with the murders of Abigail Johnson, Allana Duncan and Kerron "Fingers" Eccles. They were killed in Barrackpore last year.
Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Roger Gaspard, who is conducting the prosecution's case, raised the issue on Tuesday when he pointed out that a Newsday article, published this month, contained evidence given by a prosecution witness.
Seunath, commenting on the issue yesterday, said the provisions limiting the publication of proceedings in inquiries were "statutory and that is specific. All reports by the media must be in keeping with the provision of Section 41 (of the Act.)"
President of the Media Association of Trinidad and Tobago Suzanne Sheppard agreed.
She said the "magistrate is well within bounds to issue a warning to the media. There are rules for coverage of court matters.If journalists violate those rules they face consequences-plain and simple."
However, Seunath objected to Quintyne's warning of exclusion for anyone who infringes on the act.
"If it is she issued a warning to the media that she is going to single out, if someone commits the breach, and debar you, I think that is wrong," he said.
The Senior Counsel said a penalty for breaching the act, a $2000 fine or four months' imprisonment, already exists and excluding any journalist from court proceedings would be an error in law.
"I do not think that she has the right to do that," he noted.
"When you look at the statutory provision, that is Section 41 of the Act, if there is a breach there is a penalty for the committal of that wrong of breaching that provision. So, that sanction is already there in law and the magistrate or any other court would not be able to impose any sanction that is not provided for by the law," he said.
Seunath said Quintyne could "certainly warn people but, she cannot tell you not to come to court. That is excluding a member of the public or excluding a member of the media who has a right to be there."
He said if that were to be done the magistrate would be "virtually an injunction."
Seunath said the general principle is that in the magistrates courts, the administration of justice must be done in public and members of the public are invited to attend the court and listen to proceedings.
The media, he said, would bring the reports of what transpires in court because not every member of the public might find it convenient or possible to be in the court.