A special court is in the process of being set up to deal specifically with matters of human trafficking and sexual offences.
This was revealed by National Security Fitzgerald Hinds on the Eye on Dependency programme transmitted on I.95.5 FM on Sunday.
Hinds pointed out the fact that Chief Justice Ivor Archie issued a ‘Practice Direction’ via the Trinidad and Tobago Gazette on January 23, 2023.
This move by Archie was aimed at establishing and designating Trafficking in Persons (TIP) and Sexual Offence matters as appropriate for special procedures of the court.
He said the intention of that was to immediately establish a special criminal court within the Criminal Division of the High Court.
Hinds said from consultations with Attorney General Reginald Armour, who speaks to the Judiciary, “The Judiciary has even gone as far as to identify certain judges and certain magistrates who will deal especially with these cases to fast track them.”
However, a timeframe was not given.
He said this information has been made available to the United States Government in response to its Trafficking in Persons Report 2022.
In the report, this country remained on the Tier 2 Watch List.
“We are, according to them, in some failure to provide evidence of increasing efforts to combat severe forms of trafficking in persons, including increasing investigations…prosecution and convictions,” Hinds said.
But the minister went on to explain that strides have been made to arrest the issue.
He said at this time eight human trafficking matters were committed to stand trial where the preliminary inquiry would have been done at the Magistrates’ Court and the magistrate found that a prima facie case was made out and there was sufficient evidence to send it to the High Court.
The minister also revealed that “between 2013 and 2022, 40 files were submitted to the DPP by the police for the DPP’s consideration as to what will happen with these.”
He added that there are 54 preliminary inquiries at the Magistrates’ Court level ongoing as well.
In addition, seven matters at the summary court proceeding stage.
“As Minister of National Security faced with this annual report from the United States and recognising that we want to move from Tier two Watch List to Tier One, meaning full compliance, we would have read, in fact, we would have studied this report, line for line, word for word and working with all the officials led by the Counter Trafficking Unit (CTU), we responded in the 2021 report to the US State Department on every line of their report.
The minister said he had begun having frequent discussions with the DPP (Director of Public Prosecutions), “who I can say has been very forthcoming and supportive in terms of getting the issues going, giving the advice to the police he indicated to me that he has a number of matters, a handful of matters, I think about eight of them and that is at as that last conversation with him on that matter, that are for indictment, in other words, they would be sent to the High Court for the High Court’s attention at that level.”had
“I have been getting that strong support,” he added.
The minister has also been in contact with the Chief Justice through the Office of the Attorney General and Legal Affairs.
“We have had the full support and cooperation of the Chief Justice of this Republic in this regard,” he said.
One of the discussions emanating from the US report pointed to government officials possibly being involved in human trafficking and a call for them to be prosecuted.
This resulted in fingers being pointed from both the PNM (People’s National Movement) and UNC (United National Congress) sides at each other’s members being alleged perpetrators.
US Ambassador Candace Bond later clarified that government official means anyone with access to public funds, including members of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service.
Police Commissioner Erla Harewood-Christopher has since launched an investigation into the claims made in the report.
Hinds said anyone found to be involved in such crimes should be held accountable according to the law.
As it relates to police officers, the minister revealed that for the US reporting period April 2022 to March 2023 two investigations into law enforcement officers have been launched and the DPP is actively involved in prioritising and working closely with the police to get these and other matters rolling.
“So that it cannot be said the government is covering up any actions,” he said.
He reiterated that the US has been helping this country and a specialist in TIP’s will be arriving here by the end of the month to work alongside local law enforcement.
He added that a national action plan on human trafficking has been completed and was approved by Cabinet in April 2022.
Hinds said the US has also been informed of this development.
