CJ rules that attorney’s right to liberty was breached by SOCU

Tamieka Clarke

Chief Justice (ag) Roxane George has found that attorney Tamieka Clarke’s fundamental right to personal liberty was breached by the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) when she was briefly arrested on October 28 last year while advising her client.

She cited Article 139 of the Constitution which deals with the protection of the right to personal liberty.

A deliberation on the quantum of damages against the police unit has been adjourned for  further submissions on 19th September 2023. The attorney general was named as the respondent in the proceedings.

Justice George also ruled that the detention and seizure of Clarke’s cellular phone by officers of SOCU  without her permission and without lawful excuse was wrong.