Mickel Jackson, executive director of human rights lobby Jamaicans for Justice (JFJ), is calling for stronger legislative framework in Jamaica to respond to issues of jury management.

This call comes in light of the ruling by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) on Thursday (March 14), that the convictions against incarcerated dancehall artiste Vybz Kartel and his three co-accused be quashed due to juror misconduct and that the case be sent back to the Court of Appeal to decide on a retrial.

Vybz Kartel, whose given name is Adidja Palmer, and his three co-accused; Shawn Campbell more popularly known as Shawn Storm, Kahira Jones and Andre St John, were convicted in 2014 for the murder of Clive ‘Lizard’ Williams.

However, the JCPC on Thursday overturned the convictions due to allegations of jury misconduct, where a juror reportedly bribed other members of the jury in the 2014 murder trial.

Having taken note of the substantive issues raised by the defence attorneys, the matter of jury management was brought to the fore. The judgment raised critical questions around whether the directions to jury were adequate in relation to the bribed juror, and how the court handled the corrupt juror and the potential for a prejudicial verdict against the accused

“The case certainly highlights the need for the legislation in Jamaica to effectively respond to issues such as these where the interest of justice would demand that the judge took the time to question each juror through a process of voir dire after the issue of the bribery was brought to the court’s attention. There is a clear need for the law to empower a judge to discharge the jury and complete the trial as Judge only if potential biases were found following jury tampering, where a fair trial could not continue even with the removal of one juror as there were no guarantees the entire pool wasn’t contaminated,” Jackson said.

Similarly, Jackson says recent calls for the overhaul of the current jury system should be treated as a matter of priority.

Justice Minister Delroy Chuck has signalled that a joint select committee will be established to review the effectiveness of the jury system while making room for recommendations.

“To be clear, JFJ still maintains that the trial by jury as a common law principle is sacrosanct and must be maintained. The matter here is how juries are managed and the need for stronger legislative framework rather than an abolition of same,” Jackson added.

On the matter of retrial, JFJ’s executive director says there will be a need for several considerations.

“The issue of retrial would have to be considered on several factors: the matter of whether it is in the public interest to do so given the gravity of the offence and the need for the victim’s family to get justice. However, the rights of the co-accused must be weighed carefully and whether or not the constitutional guarantee to a fair trial can now be accomplished.

The passage of time and whether a trial can even be done based on availability of witnesses is an issue entirely that should be examined, as well as whether an impartial jury can be empanelled given the publicity of the matter. These matters must be substantively weighed by the Court of Appeal to avoid a possible miscarriage of justice,” she explained.

Jackson further noted that she was disappointed that the Privy Council did not rule on the matter of the evidence and the constitutional issues raised around possible breach of privacy.

The Privy Council noted that it was not necessary to express a concluded view on the views on the validity of telephone evidence that was used to convict the men.

“I caution those who are now conflating the issues of Privy Council versus the Caribbean Court of Justice. There is nothing to suggest that the CCJ would’ve ruled differently. JFJ maintains the need for adopting the regional court and the strengthening of our jurisprudence in issues as those raised in the appeal,” Jackson said.