In Jamaica, court rules government breached constitution in issuing states of emergency

A three-judge panel of the Constitutional Court on Friday ruled that the Government breached the separation of powers principles in the Constitution when it rolled out a series of states of public emergency (SOEs) in late 2022 without seeking parliamentary approval to extend them beyond 14 days. Justice Andrea Pettigrew-Collins, delivering the oral judgment, said the proclamations issued on November 15, December 6, and December 28, 2022, effectively allowed the executive to usurp a constitutional power reserved for Parliament and were therefore void. [ . . . ] The SOE is a tool under the Constitution which gives the security force power to search without a warrant and to detain persons longer than normal. Section 20 allows the governor general to declare a state of emergency where “action has been taken or is immediately threatened by persons or bodies of persons of such a nature and on so extensive a scale as to be likely to endanger the public safety of the community specified in the schedule”.
Read the full article here: Jamaica Gleaner