(Trinidad Express) Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar says Government has started its review of T&T’s defamation laws. Persad-Bissessar told the June 2012 International Press Institute’s World Congress in Port-of-Spain that the review will be done in keeping with the organisation’s request.
Speaking at her annual Christmas media luncheon at the Diplomatic Centre, St Ann’s on Thursday, Persad-Bissessar said the matter was being led by Attorney General Anand Ramlogan. “Our country’s now archaic defamation laws are currently under review, with the intention to bring them more in line with international best practice.
You will certainly be kept informed on the progress of the review,” she told media workers. She said her Government was committed to maintain the freedom of the media in T&T.
“We are now challenged to exercise greater levels of responsibility and self-regulation, to ensure that in exercising our personal right to freedom of expression, we do not impinge on others’ fundamental individual human rights,” she said. “High ethical standards must be maintained at all times, in the performance of our professional duties and my Government will not abdicate our responsibility to protect the freedom of every citizen of Trinidad and Tobago, including you our journalists.”
She also called on journalists to “look within to our own thoughts and examine our actions. I encourage you to make that 360-degree gaze more personal.” Persad-Bissessar called on journalists to “rise above personal agendas and partisan interests for the sake of the greater good and the continued growth, development and prosperity of T&T.”
She said maintenance of press freedom remained “a necessary component of a strong, effective democracy.” The PM said journalists must adhere “to the principles of truth, fairness and justice as you fulfill your mandate of safeguarding the public interest.”