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Opposition Senator Jayanti Lutchmedial has accused the government of having its priorities in disorder in fighting crime, calling for more enforcement of existing laws rather than the introduction of additional legislation.
Speaking at the UNC's virtual Monday Night Forum, Lutchmedial responded to claims by the government that the Opposition failed to support any crime-fighting legislation, citing its recent support of the Bail (Amendment) Bill.
She said more than legislation, robust law enforcement was needed to secure charges and convictions against criminals and also questioned the government's willingness to equip the police with the necessary resources in the face of a $185 million debt.
"You pass laws and have this obsession with restrictions on the constitutional rights and freedoms of people. You (the government) only want to deny people bail.
"The fact is that we have to know why matters are not being investigated. You actually have to catch people and charge them before you can deny them bail. So what you have is an upside-down system."
Lutchmedial said the slow pace of court proceedings should be no surprise, given the absence of laboratories to analyse and process DNA evidence, noting that the trial of two men accused of murdering Sean Luke was still continuing 15 years later.
Citing her own experience as an attorney, she said some police stations were not equipped with an identification parade room and accused National Security Minister Stuart Young of being out of touch with the challenges the police face in their investigations.
"I want to ask the Minister of National Security if he has ever been to a police station and seen ID parade rooms, We don't need a law to do ID parades, what we need are these ID parade rooms being fixed.
"One-way mirrors require lighting and intercoms, and most of them are not functioning. Several police divisions have one station with ID parade rooms that service the entire division, and most of them are non-functional."
Lutchmedial also called on stakeholders to work together and address smaller problems in the criminal justice system that could contribute to problems related to processing.
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