PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – Senior Counsel Deborah Peake has been appointed by acting Chief Justice Nolan Bereaux as chairman of the three-member state of emergency (SoE) tribunal.
Two other senior attorneys, Ian Benjamin, SC, and Lee Merry, SC, have been appointed members. On Friday, the Judiciary announced the appointment by way of an e-mail to the media of a gazetted notice dated January 2 and signed by Bereaux.
The tribunal’s purpose is to review complaints by those arrested and detained under the SoE regulations. If a person is arrested in accordance with the regulations, his/her constitutional rights to apply for and be granted bail are removed.
The tribunal was set up to hear the complaints of detained people and determine whether they should be released. The SoE was invoked to counter threats to public safety and disruptions to essential services.
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