Are there separate systems of justice?

Dear Editor,
Local Government Minister Kellawan Lall was involved in a traffic accident. According to reports in the media, Minister Lall struck a motorcycle carrying two men and then drove off. He failed to remain at the scene of the accident.
Reports in the media allege that the Minister’s vehicle was unlighted and was veering between the lanes. Reports allege that the Minister’s son returned to the scene of the accident after the Minister failed to remain at the scene of the accident. Under the laws of Guyana, the Minister is required to remain at the scene of an accident. He must provide his information and particulars and render assistance if injury is caused. If he leaves the scene and injury is caused he is obligated to report the accident as soon as reasonably possible or within 24 hours in person.
The law does not require an estimation of liability or an apportionment of fault before these actions are completed. This particular law operates in this fashion regardless of any perception or consideration of fault. Any Guyanese could be completely faultless for an accident but is still liable to be charged for leaving the scene of the accident, failing to render assistance and failing to report the accident within 24 hours. The act of reporting the accident requires the person to be physically present before a police rank or at a police station. The onus of reporting is on the Minister not the police. The police apparently contacted the Minister and told him to report to a police station. However, it appears the incompetent police did not visit the Minister’s residence shortly after the accident to speak with the Minister and to appraise his physical condition with respect to pressing any other charges.
The question of whether the Minister broke the law or not depends on whether he physically showed up at a police station or presented himself to a police constable within 24 hours of the incident. The fact that the police contacted the Minister is irrelevant to the issue of whether he obeyed the law requiring him to present himself to the police within 24 hours. If the Minister did not physically present himself to the police within 24 hours it is breaking the law of the land and an automatic charge should be issued.
The other part of that law states that the Minister must report himself as soon as reasonably practicable. This provision means that the statutory obligation is to remain at the scene and if one cannot remain at the scene to report as soon as reasonably practicable. That condition is interpreted in the courts of developed countries as a condition precedent to the 24-hour condition. The Minister’s son apparently attended at the scene of the accident after the Minister fled the scene with the Minister’s vehicle. This is indubitable evidence that the Minister’s faculties were intact, his vehicle was still operable enabling him to attend at the scene or to the police, that he was aware of the accident and that he had no valid reason for failing to remain at the scene such as fear for the safety of his person as he subsequently sent his son to the accident scene.
There is no evidence that the police seized the vehicle or conducted any inspection of the vehicle. Did the police saw it fit to investigate whether this is a careless or reckless driving charge?
The question of fault raised by the Commissioner of Police has no bearing on any charge of failing to remain at the scene or reporting an accident. It is a secondary and separate issue and is a red herring pitched into the barrel to create a diversionary stench. Beyond the legal connotations, this is really an issue of human dignity, decency and respect. How does any respectable human being who sits in a powerful position in this land and in a government that eternally claims devotion to the people knowingly leave the scene of an accident knowing that fellow human beings are lying on the ground probably taking their last breaths of life? Isn’t benevolence supposed to mean something to those running this nation?
Why flee the scene to go home and get your son to return if there is nothing to hide? Is this a case of police incompetence or induced police lethargy, occasioned by authority? There are two systems of justice in this nation and the police know exactly how to act with respect to each of them. Isn’t it amazing how individuals involved in these incidents with local celebrity inevitably lose their tongue? I guess it is but one of the pitfalls of living in a corrupt society where the power brokers can seemingly dictate life and death itself. So easily bought and sold. Just so easily bought and sold.
M. Maxwell