T&T government moves to amend criminal libel legislation

May 07, 2013 11:22 AM

PORT-OF-SPAIN - The Trinidad and Tobago government said last week, it would move to amend the existing libel and defamation legislation to ensure that journalists were not jailed "for the malicious publication of any defamatory libel."

 
Speaking at a news conference following talks with a delegation from the Vienna-based International Press Institute (IPI), the Association of Caribbean Media Workers (ACM) and the Trinidad and Tobago Publishers and Broadcasters Association (TTPBA), Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar said she would take a note to Cabinet on Thursday, to amend the law.
 
"We will insert a new provision so that no journalist can be criminally charged and prosecuted under section nine of the Libel and Defamation Act for the malicious publication of any defamatory libel," she said, adding "this would allow members of the media fraternity to engage in responsible journalism and to tell the story without fear of criminal liability."
 
Prime Minister Persad-Bissessar said in doing so, her coalition People's Partnership government would be "removing an onerous legal restriction in the criminal law which imposes a one year sentence."
 
She said that the law of criminal libel was first passed in 1846, and has governed the conduct of the media in this regard for over 160 years.
 
"As a former colony, we inherited this law from England and it has remained on our statute books for 167 years, even though England repealed this law in 2009. This law has been on our books for too long. We believe that in any civilised society committed to freedom of the press it does not so belong," she told reporters.
 
She said that subject to Cabinet approval the amendment is "further evidence of the government's commitment to an independent, free and fair press in our great nation.
 
"We remain hopeful that with the amendment to the legislation there would be the desire by journalists to do their part: a greater sense of professionalism and responsibility by journalists to first verify the facts before publishing a story."
 
IPI has been visiting several Caribbean countries urging governments to repeal the criminal libel legislation and IPI executive director Alison Bethel McKenzie described the proposed move by the government as "historic."
 
In the picture: Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, second from right, speaks with president of the T&T Publishers and Broadcasters Association, Kiran Maharaj, second from left, while International Press Institute executive director, Alison Bethel McKenzie, and ACM president Wesley Gibbings look on after yesterday’s news conference at the Office of the Prime Minister, St Clair 

Lawyer Roeland Zwanikken considers legal action against ABN AMRO Bank

May 08, 2021 6:14 PM
THE HAGUE--Attorney-at-law Roeland Zwanikken at St. Maarten’s BZSE law office is considering legal action against the intention of the Dutch ABN AMRO Bank to close the bank accounts of its clients in the Dutch Caribbean.

Fiscaal onderzoek bij notariskantoren vinden doorgang

May 07, 2021 8:04 AM
In het Antilliaans Dagblad: Fiscaal onderzoek bij notariskantoren
WILLEMSTAD – De fiscale onderzoeken bij de notarissen vonden en vinden, ondanks de beperkingen van Covid-19, weer doorgang en de medewerking aan de kant van notarissen en adviseurs is daarbij ‘over het algemeen goed’.

Juridische miljoenenstrijd tussen BNP Paribas en Italiaanse prinses verhardt

February 22, 2021 4:51 PM
  • Bezit van Italiaanse Crociani-familie op Curaçao mag van rechter worden verkocht
  • De Crociani's ruziën al jaren met BNP Paribas over een claim van $100 mln
  • Curaçaos trustkantoor United Trust heeft 'geen enkele relatie meer' met Camilla Crociani
Een Italiaanse prinses met zakelijke belangen in Nederland heeft het onderspit gedolven bij diverse rechtbanken in een langslepend conflict met zakenbank BNP Paribas.