Minister withdraws controversial detention order
Monday 16th June 2008, 2:59PM BST.
THE Home Affairs Minister has withdrawn a ministerial order in which she approved the indefinite police detention of suspects without charge.
The decision comes after it was reported in the JEP on Saturday that Senator Wendy Kinnard had signed off a change to a criminal code which was widely believed to undermine one of the most fundamental civil liberties enjoyed by Islanders.
Almost as soon as the paper hit news stands on Saturday morning, the minister came under fire from fellow States Members, who demanded that she rescind the order. They threatened to bring an emergency proposition to the House if she did not comply with their demands. Deputy Ben Fox said he would call for her immediate resignation if she did not rescind the order.
Senator Kinnard has insisted that the order made on 5 June did not alter the basic position on detention without charge but was merely a ‘minor change’. In a statement issued in response to the weekend furore, she said: ‘The police do not and will not have powers to detain indefinitely’.
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Even though they have rescinded the order this has highlighted the incompetence of our ministers.
It also shows that they have to much power at hand and it is open to abuse. How many orders from other ministers in other departments have these powers and how many have passed orders without debate? or public knowledge?
If this was in the UK the MP’s would be calling her to resign. But this is Jersey and they all stick together, well theres a ferry in the morning and i think they should be on it!
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The JEP report states that Kinnard made this minsterial ‘order’ on 5th June and that she has now withdrawn it. I presume that the JEP were referring to a ministerial DECISION and so I browsed the relevant pages of the States website today but can find absolutely no trace of any such decision being made by Kinnard on or around 5th June. There is also nothing relevant posted as legislation on the jerseylaw.je website.
What the JEP has revealed is truly awful enough as it is but why has this ministerial decision (if indeed it is a decision) not been published on the States website for general inspection? If it is the case that this decision/order is available to read on the States website but I haven’t yet managed to find it.
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This type of individually driven enactment of orders and regulations is leading Jersey down the road of regimes that are usually roundly criticised, like Burma (Myanmar,) and Zimbabwe. Since we theoretically are neither ruled by a Military Junta, nor a Dictator, one would hope that our ‘democratic’ system would prevent this kind of abuse of power, however, recently, this is clearly not the case.
The Nazis did leave in 1945 didn’t they?
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