Saturday, November 5, 2011

ARTICLE - MIN. OF JUSTICE - CALM - SERENE

THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE SAID HE'S "CALM AND SERENE"
(Haiti Libre) -

Friday, on the eve of his appearance before the Senate, as part of his interpellation in the Bélizaire case, Mr. Josué Pierre-Louis, the Minister of Justice and Public Safety said he's "calm and serene." Reacting to the allegations of parliamentarians, who consider the arrest of Deputy Bélizaire as being illegal and arbitrary, the Minister of Justice stated that "only judges of the courts can rule on this issue... Article 173-1 of the Constitution states: challenges whose purpose is civil rights is exclusively within the jurisdiction of the courts. "In this context, as a judge of my state, I can not judge an illegal and arbitrary arrest. Just as the parliamentarians who defend the constitutional principles that, according to them, are not respected, all authorities are required to comply with Article 26 and 26.1 of the Constitution, which clearly outlines the steps and procedures in the case of an arrest considered arbitrary and illegal."

Regarding the decision of the Government Commissioner, Mr. Félix Léger, to apprehend Deputy Bélizaire, the Minister explained, "If I felt that the Government Commissioner had made a mistake on the administrative side, I would have revoked him"... ""The judiciary is fully independent [...] we did what needed to be done under the procedure laid out, according to a consensus between the three powers. If there is problem, it is not at the level of the government. We must look elsewhere."

Declaring that he's ready to accept any decision of the Upper House, the Minister believes, however, "that the procedures of the interpellation have not been obeyed to as prescribed in Article 107 and 107-1 of the Constitution. "An evil must not be corrected by an evil," by a clear violation of the law mother. The Senate should not interpellate a Minister while the Parliament is in extraordinary session."

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