"City Prison a "Circle of Hell"
29 December 2003

A visiting law professor has described the Port of Spain prison as a "circle of hell", and called on government to come up with more effective means of punishment for criminals.

American Prof Thomas Russell, who lectures at the University of Denver College, said Trinidad's correction system was not effective in rehabilitating offenders.

However, he congratulated the prison authorities for being able to prevent prison murders and uprisings despite poor infrastructure and limited resources.

Russell told a recent seminar on restorative justice, held at the Attorney General's Ministry, Cabildo Chambers, Port of Spain, there was an urgent need to move away from the conventional justice system, which sought to punish the offenders, to a system geared to repair the harm done.

Among his suggestions were the imposition of community service sentences instead of incarceration, a new system which would allow criminals and their victims to interact in a controlled environment to allow for rehabilitation and reintegration.

If these measures were implemented, there would be a reduction in the levels of crime which plague the country, Russell predicted.

Attorney General John Jeremie reaffirmed his commitment to legislative reform, especially in the criminal justice system.

"Restorative justice is a concept that clearly needs to be articulated and understood by all stakeholders involved in the criminal justice system," Jeremie told the audience, which included National Security Minister Martin Joseph, and Independent Senators Eastlyn McKenzie, Ramesh Deosaran, Dana Seetahal, and Noble Khan.

He said a legal officer from his ministry was working along with the Criminal Justice Committee- appointed by the Chief Justice and chaired by Justice Mark Mohammed-to review the criminal justice system.

In addition, he pointed out that a Cabinet-appointed Task Force on prison reform had presented its report earlier this year, and his ministry was in the process of reviewing the now outdated 1838 rules which govern the prison system.

Jeremie also referred to statements made during Prime Minister Patrick Manning's budget presentation, pledging government's commitment to prison reform and restorative justice.

The colloquium was hosted by the Ministries of the Attorney General and National Security and Rehabilitation, in collaboration with the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of the West Indies and the Restorative Justice Action Group.

Prof Russell had completed a lecture series on Restorative Justice at the Faculty , before delivering a paper on the subject at the seminar.

In his address, he said restorative justice focused on repairing the harm done to crime victims through redress, vindication and healing, while at the same time allowing offenders the opportunity to participate in the justice process.

He said the process required offenders to take responsibility for their actions and for the harm they had caused through reparation, fair treatment and rehabilitation.

Russell said restorative justice would be most beneficial to offenders who did not need to be incarcerated for their crimes.

Community panels, comprising mentors, police officers, and lawyers would be established to carry out an evaluation exercise on the offender, would be required to make representations and perform specified duties designed to achieve rehabilitation.

Such a procedure would place emphasis on the offender taking responsibility for the criminal acts committed and vindication of victims "in a non-judgmental, non-blaming manner," Russell said.

At the end of the evaluation exercise, reports would be submitted to the court to determine the offender's sentence.

Another aspect of the process would be to have the victims of crime interact with the offenders to achieve restoration and eventual re-integration of both individuals into the community.