BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, September 27th, 2012 (CUOPM) – Attorney General and Minister of Justice and Legal Affairs, the Hon. Patrice Nisbett has given the assurance that the Federal Government will provide the tools to the local law enforcement agencies.
Addressing the recent opening of the New Law Term, the Attorney General said necessary legislation will also be put in place to keep St. Kitts and Nevis safe very mindful of the precepts of the constitution which has erected certain barriers beyond which arms of government dare not trespass.
“All of us are aware that providing the tools to our law enforcement agencies to do their job effectively is costly. With our small economy and scare resources we must scale our priorities and accept that runaway crime trumps policies. The government is committed to using every instrument of national power to fight crime. A more effective use of the police and the defence force as well as the criminal justice system are being put in place and in every instance we will use the most effective tools and measures available to the government,” said Mr. Nisbett.
He pointed out that in combating crime there are those who worry about the clash between security and freedom but “the alleged clash between freedom and security, that is, a security guaranteed by the state turns out to be chimera. For there is no freedom if it is not secured by the state and conversely, only a state which is controlled by free citizens can offer them any reasonable security at all.’ [Popper (1945) Vol I at 111].
“We live in a time of urgency, in a time of insecurity and there is the tendency to deploy draconian measures to cope with the insecurity which we battle today. But history has taught us that in time of peril and insecurity to surrender our rights and freedoms invite neither peace or security.
The Ministry of Justice adheres to the caution given by US Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall who famously said in Skinner V Railway Labour Executives Association. ‘History teaches us that prove threats to liberty often came in times of urgency, when constitutional rights seem too extravagant to endure….When we allow fundamental freedoms to be sacrificed in the name of exigency we invariably come to regret it’,” said Attorney General Nisbett.
He reaffirmed that Government will provide the necessary security in and for the people of the Federation in such a way not to undermine liberty but to shore it up.
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