Police will be seeking the advice of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to determine what to do with Berbice school teacher Ronald Forde, whose committal to the High Court on four counts of sexual activity with a child was deemed a nullity because of a recent ruling by acting Chief Justice Ian Chang.
Justice Chang had ruled on August 10 that paper committals, under the Sexual Offences Act, are unconstitutional as the accused is given no opportunity to defend him or herself at the level of the Magistrate’s Court.
As a result of the ruling, all cases made under the Act will have to be put on hold, pending an amendment. However, the National Assembly is in recess until October, so there is slim chance of a change before then.
Forde, 25, of Lot 2 Section A, Bel Air, West Coast Berbice, between September 1 and October 31, 2010, at Fort Wellington Secondary School, allegedly engaged in sexual activity with 14-year-old student of the same school. He was charged in February last year.
A source close to the case explained that on August 9, an attorney from the DPP’s chambers presented the indictment to the High Court. Forde, on that occasion, pleaded not guilty to the charges. The source said that the following day, Chang made the ruling, rendering Forde’s committal unconstitutional.
On Tuesday, during a hearing of the case, Justice James Bovell-Drakes informed the accused that the committal was nullified because of the ruling. It was also noted, according to the source, that though the charges are still valid, pending the amendment, the judge indicated to that the police would have to recharge Forde and allow for a preliminary inquiry at the level of the Magistrate’s Court. The source, however, stressed that the judge’s ruling does not mean that Forde is free of the charges.
When contacted, Crime Chief Seelall Persaud said that he was aware of the case and noted that advice will have to be sought from the DPP on the way forward.
“Surely a hearing cannot be fair if the accused can lead no evidence in response to evidence adduced by the prosecution,” Justice Chang said in his handing down the landmark ruling.
Paper committals, under the Sexual Offences Act of 2010, allow a magistrate to make a committal only on statements provided. No witnesses, according to the legislation, are required to attend the court to give evidence. The magistrate would make a determination, based on statements provided by the virtual complainant, the investigating rank and the rank who accompanied the complainant to the hospital along with the complainant’s medical report and birth certificate.
During the hearing in the Magistrate’s Court, the accused, according to the law, cannot say or produce anything in his defence.
It was Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry, through attorney Gino Persaud, who approached the High Court seeking an opinion after the attorney for an accused man informed the court that his client was in possession of evidence, which would free him of the charge and wanted to make an unsworn statement.
