Attorney: People may sue over roadblocks

THE police have no power to send anyone home, and people caught in recent roadblocks can all sue the State, claimed Douglas Bayley, attorney for activist Ravi Balgobin-Maharaj. He replied to a letter from the Chief State Solicitor in the Office of the Attorney General sent in answer to Balgobin-Maharaj’s pre-action protocol letter against the roadblocks.

The State’s position was that citizens enjoy freedom of movement and the police have mere powers of suasion.

Bayley said he welcomed the AG assuring there is no legal restriction on public movement outside the covid19 regulations and that police can persuade people to return home but not arrest them for not doing so.

Bayley said, “The State must now equally accept that citizens are free to reject that suasion and insist that they proceed past the roadblock and continue with their journey.”

He said this differed from the picture painted by the Government before, which had citizens afraid to leave home after 6 pm, when the police sent people home, not using moral suasion, but by flexing the State’s coercive muscle. He welcomed the AG’s concession as vindicating Balgobin-Maharaj’s decision to start legal action.

Bayley cited media reports to show ministers' statements had given people the false but distinct impression they had to obey the stay-at-home order or be charged for an offence.

He said the AG’s admission that the police only have moral suasion meant anyone stopped at a roadblock and sent home had their constitutional rights violated.

“Such persons would now have a claim for a breach of their constitutional rights against the State. This could lead to an avalanche of litigation against the State.”

Bayley then denied the police may use even moral suasion to ask people to maintain isolation, arguing this was an “illegal and unconstitutional” use of police power. The police have no authority in law to stop citizens going about their daily business, he said.

Further, Bayley said the police were an independent institution whose mandate is to simply to fight crime.

“It is not the duty of the police to persuade citizens to comply with government policy, as this is entirely improper, illegal and unlawful.”

Bayley scoffed at claims the roadblocks were needed to stop a rise in crime during the lockdown, as the police website showed a "marked decrease” in serious crime during the pandemic.

The attorney said Balgobin-Maharaj could not identify the officers who had stopped him, as they were wearing masks and had refused to identify themselves, although the Police Service would have records of them. He vowed to continue his client’s case.