With government’s introduction of a state of emergency (SoE) to fight crime on December 30, many are comparing it to the SoE called in 2011 by then-prime minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar.
The 2011 state of emergency was called in response to a wave of violent crime when 11 people were killed in a single weekend in August 2011, as well as a supposed plot to assassinate the PM.
On December 30, National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds said seven people were killed between December 27 and 30, with a further 15 in the preceding week.
The 2011 SoE was called for a period of 15 days and only applied to certain hotspot areas of the country, including the cities of Port of Spain and San Fernando, the boroughs of Arima and Chaguanas, and the Diego Martin and San Juan Laventille regional corporations.
A curfew was in effect from 9 pm to 5 am, and special consideration and arrangements were to be made for those working nights and the early hours of the morning.
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On September 24, the SoE was extended for a period of three months and ended on December 5, 2011.
The current SoE is islandwide and there is no prohibition of movement, gatherings or marches.
Both SoEs gave police officers and soldiers enhanced powers to search people and seize goods without a warrant. It gives them the power to detain or arrest people they suspect of carrying out criminal activities.
Under Section 8(1) of the Constitution, the President may from time to time make a proclamation that a state of public emergency exists. Under Section 8(2) of the Constitution, a SoE could be enacted if the President was satisfied that action had been taken, or was immediately threatened, by any person, of such a nature and on so extensive a scale, as to be likely to endanger the public safety.
The Constitution said within three days of the proclamation, the President will present a statement to the House of Representatives setting out the reasons why the SoE was declared, and the matter will be debated not later than 15 days from the date of the proclamation. The proclamation shall remain in force for 15 days.
The Constitution also says when people who are detained under an SoE request to have their case reviewed while being detained, and not earlier than six months after making a first request, their case shall be reviewed by an independent and impartial tribunal established by law and presided over by an attorney-at-law appointed by the Chief Justice.
The tribunal can make recommendations about the necessity or expediency of continuing the person's detention to the authority that ordered it but the authority does not have to act on these recommendations.
This is the sixth SoE in TT’s history since Independence.
There was a partial SoE in 1995 when then House speaker Occah Seapaul was put under house arrest on August 3.
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In 1970, the first full SoE was proclaimed on April 21 and ended on November 20, after the Black Power Revolution protests. Another SoE was called the following year on October 19, 1971, and was lifted on June 30, 1972.
The third SoE was proclaimed in 1990 after the attempted coup by the Jamaat-al-Muslimeen, which began on July 27. The SoE was called on July 28 and lifted on December 9.
The fourth SoE was called by Persad-Bissessar in 2011.
In 2021, an SoE was called by PM Rowley to cut down the rates of infection and deaths owing to the covid19 pandemic. It came into effect on May 15 and was lifted on November 17.
