Judge rejects criticism about hefty DRMA fines, Oct 10, 2021
Amid criticisms over the hefty fines being handed down to some Jamaicans for breaching the Disaster Risk Management Act (DRMA), Chief Judge of the Parish Courts, Chester Crooks, has defended the imposition of the significant fines, noting that they act as a deterrent to further COVID-19 breaches.
It was reported last month that several persons were fined up to $200,000 for failing to wear masks in public spaces and breaching curfew orders when they appeared in the St Thomas Parish Court.
Additionally, two sisters from St Thomas made headlines after they cried foul after they were each fined $200,000 for not wearing a mask.
While speaking at a Conversation with the Judiciary session with the media on Friday, Crooks argued that the fines that were handed down in St Thomas assisted in getting people to adhere to the COVID-19 protocols.
"Based on the reports we got, the next day (after the fines were imposed) there was not one person in St Thomas who was walking around without a mask," he claimed.
"... And the persons who are coming out and saying, 'Boy unuh harsh. The fines are too high and so on, they are missing the point," asserted the chief parish judge.
"I've had to shame persons who come in front of me (in court) into compliance because I tell them; one - persons are losing their income left, right, and center because of the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic," he said.
Crooks also told critics of the fines being handed down, especially in relation to wearing of the masks, that it is not a simple offense for which a small fine is appropriate.
"... It's not just about ‘it's a mask (and) why are you fining them so high?’ We are literally, apart from saving your own life, you're saving the life of another Jamaican," the judge declared.
While noting that there have been variations in sentences in other parishes when compared to the recent cases in St Thomas, Crooks highlighted that some persons’ fines will be higher than others based on the circumstances surrounding how they breached the DRMA.
"I do note the concern about the disparity in sentencing from parish to parish, highlighting St Thomas as a recent example, but this is something that we also have to acknowledge (that) from parish to parish the situations are different, (and) in some parishes the compliance with the DRMA is higher than others," he explained.
"Sentences also have to have a deterrent factor, notwithstanding the leniency and speaking to them and trying to shame them into compliance.
"... For instance, the persons who hold the parties, they tend to be fined heavier because they are encouraging breaches of the DRMA," he disclosed.
As part of the sentencing too, Crooks said "judicial knowledge" has to be utilised "where you literally know what goes on in the streets, so that you don't operate in a vacuum or a bubble."
"... Some persons - we are told partygoers - are actually factoring in the cost of the fines into keeping parties," he shared.
Meanwhile, there have been calls for the implementation of sentencing guidelines to address the purported inconsistencies in the sentences being handed down for DRMA breaches.
However, Chief Justice Bryan Sykes said parish court judges already take into account the sentencing guidelines relative to first time offenders, for example.
"Judges already take that into account, and I suppose that if persons are sufficiently disgruntled, then there will be appeals (of the sentences), and then the Court of Appeal will be indicating the appropriate approach to sentences under the DRMA," declared Sykes.
Opposition Leader Mark Golding made calls last month for the Government to implement the ticketing system under the DRMA to prevent Jamaicans paying hefty fines for any breach committed under that Act.
The Government is yet to respond to that proposal.