Unless the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) can present “fresh evidence” against him, Marcus Bisram will not be prosecuted for the 2016 murder of Berbice carpenter Faiyaz Narinedatt that the police said he had ordered.
His reprieve follows a unanimous ruling in his favour yesterday by the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) voiding Section 72 of the Criminal Law (Procedure) Act, which empowers the DPP to order the committal of a murder accused for trial even though a magistrate has found no prima facie evidence to so do.
“A law which renders the magistrate’s professional decision-making subject to the dictates of another official cuts straight through Article 122A [of the Constitution] and must be declared void to the extent of its inconsistency with that article,” the CCJ said.