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Biometrics-Fingerprinting

The IMMIGRATION (BIOMETRICS) REGULATIONS 2015 are NULL, VOID and Un-Constitutional

PRESS  RELEASE Issued by the PEOPLES  EMPOWERMENT  PARTY, DAVID  COMISSIONG, President, Peoples Empowerment Party If Prime Minister Freundel Stuart has his way, Barbadians will be virtually  the only people on the face of the earth who are obligated to be fingerprinted by their own Government every time they attempt to leave their own country or…

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PRESS  RELEASE Issued by the PEOPLES  EMPOWERMENT  PARTY, DAVID  COMISSIONG, President, Peoples Empowerment Party
David Comissiong, President, Clement Payne Movement
David Comissiong, President, Clement Payne Movement

If Prime Minister Freundel Stuart has his way, Barbadians will be virtually  the only people on the face of the earth who are obligated to be fingerprinted by their own Government every time they attempt to leave their own country or to return to their own country!

No American citizen is fingerprinted by the US Government when he or she attempts to leave or return to the USA! No British citizen is fingerprinted! No Canadian citizen! No Trinidadian, Jamaican, Cuban, Venezuelan, Chinese or Indian citizen is fingerprinted by their Government when they attempt to leave or to return to Trinidad, Jamaica, Cuba, Venezuela, China or India!

So why does Mr. Freundel Stuart and his Democratic Labour Party (DLP) Administration wish to fingerprint Barbadians every time they travel, and who do they propose to give those collected fingerprints to?

If it hasn’t been said before, let me be the first to declare it:- Prime Minister Freundel Stuart’s so-called “Immigration (Biometrics) Regulations, 2015” are a national disgrace!

Every conceivable thing that could be wrong with and about these Regulations that Mr. Stuart has purported to make is wrong!

To begin with, the “politics” of the so-called “Regulations” are wrong! In a supposedly free and democratic society, Stuart chose to foist these “Regulations” on an unsuspecting populace without any advance notice or public discussion! Just imagine – “Regulations” that purport to denude the citizenship rights of Barbadians and to substantially infringe Barbadians’ constitutionally guaranteed right of “freedom of movement” are made in secret and without any reference to the Barbadian public!

Secondly, Mr. Stuart and his legal advisors are so inept that the “Regulations” are also procedurally wrong! Apparently, Stuart and company were so intent on shrouding these “Regulations” in secrecy that they failed to follow the clearly stipulated legal procedure for making such Regulations!

The “Regulations” are also in breach of both the Constitution of Barbados and of fundamental principles of International Law that frown upon any measure that has the effect of prohibiting a person from being able to return to his or her native country.

It should be noted that the long established “rights” of the Barbadian people in relation to this matter of their freedom to leave and return to their native country are as follows:-

·      “Section 4 of the Immigration Act

1. A citizen has the right to enter Barbados.

2. A Permanent resident shall, so long as he continues to be a permanent resident, be permitted to enter Barbados.

3. The Minister (responsible for Immigration) may prohibit the entry into Barbados of any person other than a citizen or a permanent resident.”

·      “Section 22 of the Constitution of Barbados

1. No person shall be deprived of his freedom of movement, that is to say…the right to enter Barbados, the right to leave Barbados…

3.    Nothing contained in or done under the authority of any law shall be held to      be inconsistent with or in contravention of this section to the extent that the law in question makes provision –

a) for the imposition of restrictions on … any person’s right to leave Barbados that are reasonably required in the interests of defence, public safety or public order;”

(Note:- It should be noted from the foregoing that the Constitutional right of citizens of Barbados to enter Barbados is absolute and unfettered, while the right of citizens to leave Barbados may be restricted in the interest of defence, public safety or public order.)

Now, let us consider the details of and the circumstances surrounding the so-called Immigration (Biometrics) Regulations 2015. The facts pertaining to these Regulations are as follows:-

1) On the 17th of April 2015 Prime Minister Stuart – in his capacity as Minister Responsible for Immigration – formulated or “made” the so-called “Immigration (Biometrics) Regulations, 2015”. (Please note that formulating or “making” regulations is just the initial step in the process of “enacting” regulations – they also have to be laid in Parliament and published in the Official Gazette.)

 

2) According to the text of the said Regulations, Stuart claimed to be acting under the power granted to him by Section 31 (g) and (h) of the Immigration Act to make regulations for “prescribing the means to be taken for identifying persons suspected of being in Barbados contrary to the (Immigration) Act” and for “prescribing anything that is by this (Immigration) Act authorized or required to be prescribed”

(How fingerprinting Barbadian citizens can be a measure for “identifying persons suspected of being in Barbados contrary to the Immigration Act” is anybody’s guess! Furthermore, none of the things that the Immigration Act authorizes or requires the Minister responsible for Immigration to prescribe appertain to fingerprinting Barbadians citizens whenever they attempt to leave or return to Barbados!)

3) The effect of Stuart’s “Regulations” as they pertain to citizens of Barbados traveling to and from Barbados is as follows:-

a) Where any person seeks to enter or depart from a port in Barbados, that person shall provide an immigration officer with biometric data (fingerprints, facial photographs, scan of the retina of the eye etc.) through the use of a biometric system.

b) The Chief Immigration Officer shall specify the type of biometric data that a person shall provide. (Note: The Chief Immigration Officer has already specified that Citizens of Barbados will be fingerprinted from 1st April 2016)

c) A citizen of Barbados who refuses to provide an immigration Officer with the specified biometric data (fingerprints) may be restrained from leaving the island.

d) A citizen of Barbados who complies with the request to provide the specified biometric data (fingerprints) when he leaves Barbados, but who refuses to comply with the request to provide the specified biometric data when he seeks to return to Barbados, shall be refused re-entry into Barbados.

e) A citizen of Barbados who, having refused to comply with the request to provide the specified biometric data (fingerprint) when he attempts to leave Barbados,  is still permitted by an Immigration Officer to leave the island, shall not be refused re-entry into Barbados.

(It is clear therefore that these Regulations BREACH the Constitutional right of Barbadian citizens to ENTER Barbados, and severely restrict our right to LEAVE Barbados!)

4) But that is not all there is to note about the Immigration (Biometrics) Regulations 2015! These Regulations, that Stuart formulated or “made” on 17th April 2015 , contain a total of 18 sections. No less than 12 of these 18 sections deal with storing the biometric data of Barbadian citizens (and non-Citizens), and with the conditions for making such data available to foreign and domestic state agencies and / or private agencies!

(This can only lead the citizens of Barbados to have serious doubts and reservations about the purpose of collecting their fingerprints whenever they leave and return to their country, and also about whose agenda the Stuart Administration is carrying out.)

5) So far as the procedural irregularities of the Regulations are concerned, it should be noted that the “Regulations” that Stuart formulated or “made” on the 17th of April 2015 were “made” under the Immigration Act Chapter 190 of the laws of Barbados, and that Section 31 (3) of the said Immigration Act stipulates that all regulations made by the Minister responsible for Immigration “shall be subject to negative resolution.”

The legal procedure for enacting “regulations” that are “subject to negative resolution” is outlined in Section 41 of the Interpretation Act Chapter 1 of the Laws of Barbados as follows:-

“(2) …the expression “statutory period”… shall mean a period of forty days…”

“(7) The expression “subject to negative resolution” when used in relation to any statutory instruments (such as regulations made under a Statute or Act of Parliament) shall mean that such instruments shall, as soon as may be after they are made, be laid before each House (of Parliament), and if either House, within the statutory period (of 40 days) next after such instrument has been so laid, resolves that the instrument shall be annulled, the instrument shall be VOID as from the date of the resolution …”

And Section 16 (1) – “Every enactment (such as Regulations made under an Act of Parliament) shall be published in the Gazette and, unless the enactment otherwise provides, shall take effect and come into operation on the date of such publication,”

Thus, having “made” the Regulations on 17th April 2015, Mr Stuart was — BY  LAW — obligated to lay them before the House of Assembly and the Senate, and to give the members of those two Houses of Parliament a period of forty (40) days to consider whether they wanted to bring and pass a Resolution to annul the said Regulations ! Mr Stuart was obligated to go through this procedure BEFORE he could publish the Regulations in the Official Gazette as the law of the land!

What Mr Stuart, in fact, did was to publish the Regulations in the Official Gazette of the 23rd of April 2015— a mere six (6) days after he “made” the Regulations! He thus breached the law by failing to lay the Regulations in Parliament and giving Parliament 40 days to consider whether to annul them! Indeed, he was only entitled to publish them in the Gazette as the law of the land IF they had been before Parliament for 40 days AND  Parliament had not passed a resolution annulling them!

Mr Stuart did not, in fact, “lay” the Regulations until the 15th of June 2015— some 53 days after he had already wrongfully published them in the Official Gazette as the law of the land. Once again, this was totally wrong, and in breach of the legal procedure outlined in the Interpretation Act !

On a procedural basis alone, therefore, the Immigration (Biometrics) Regulations 2015 are null and void and of no legal effect !

It should also be noted that the Regulations were laid so quietly and unobtrusively in Parliament on the 15th of June 2015 that not one of the several Opposition Parliamentarians that I have spoken to about this matter were aware that the Regulations had been laid in Parliament!

This entire matter is a total disgrace, and confirms that standards of governance and respect for the rights of the citizens of Barbados have plummeted significantly under the current DLP Administration.

In light of the fore-going, I now hereby call upon Prime Minister Freundel Stuart to — within the next seven (7) days — publicly affirm that the so-called Immigration (Biometrics) Regulations 2015 are a nullity and are of no legal effect !

Failure to do so will result in the instituting of  legal proceeding in the Supreme Court against the Government of Barbados in respect of this matter.

(A copy of the first page of the Gazette and of a number of the relevant sections of the Regulations is attached hereto – Click HERE)

139 responses to “The IMMIGRATION (BIOMETRICS) REGULATIONS 2015 are NULL, VOID and Un-Constitutional”

  1. Colonel Buggy Avatar
    Colonel Buggy

    The burning question is , Who is the real Captain of SS Barbados? Even lowly cabin boys seem to have taken over the bridge at times. In the days of Captain Bligh,this would have been seen as Mutiny, and in the days of Captain Francesco Schettino, this would have been deemed a serious neglect of duty.

  2. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    Does something appear to be a bit unusual here?
    ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
    NO!!
    Get real David!
    What more evidence do we need that Froon is a joke? …leading a pack of useless poppets..?

    Fortunately for them, they are dealing with Bajan brass… and can get away with all this… ..perhaps even get themselves re-elected….. IF there was time for another election, that is…

  3. Well Well & Consequences Avatar
    Well Well & Consequences

    And talking about jokes and poppets…where did government get that 6 cents an acre land for their Cahill scam, but now complain about expensive land.

    http://www.barbadostoday.bb/2016/03/19/land-wont-come-cheap-warns-kellman/

  4. Gabriel Avatar
    Gabriel

    It should be most embarrassing for Stuart,having Darcy the Quisling Boyce as Minister “in the Prime Minister’s Office”,that is the sanctum sanctorum,you couldn’t get any closer to the most powerful man in government than that,responsible for Immigration.Now this liar and thief,Boyce,sitting near to OSA in a previous administration,up and carried all the BLP strategies and plans to the lying,thieving,cheating David Thompson,and before the Supervisor of Elections can announce the liar and leper-by-association- lawyer winner of the 2008 election,Darcy the Quisling get mek a (dis)honourable minister in Thompson cabinet and OSA en recover from that blow to the solus plexus up to now.Rumour has it that the Rev Joe Atherley tell OSA…man read and inwardly digest the psalm 146 3-5, whichin says in local parlance……….Don’t truss nobody man….
    Now right inside Froon office mistakes getting make a dime a dozen.Froon is the substantive Minister responsible for Immigration.The Quisling just attending meetings but the final stamp of authority is Froon.How embarrasing must Frron be,a big able QC and backed up by another big able QC the AG.Neither these incompetents nor their advisers studied this earth shattering legislation before trying to enforce it by stealth.By the same token the BLP Opposition Leader and their Shadow AG have been caught with their pants down.It was left to David Commissiong to write the AG since February about the matter.The government and the opposition are equally to blame for this fiasco.It would not have happened if David Simmonds or Bree or Henry or Louis were serving in the House.

  5. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    “It would not have happened if David Simmonds or Bree or Henry or Louis were serving in the House.”
    ++++++++++++++++++++++++++
    Shiite man Gabriel..
    it won’t have happened if anyone with half a brain; who could read; and who actually knew how to count dates ..were serving….

    Dompey would have done better then…..

  6. Gabriel Avatar
    Gabriel

    BushTea
    You see how the Bermudans make the Premier withdraw an Immigration bill just by surrounding Parliament and blocking every MP from entering.If that was Barbados,heads would get crack for sure,’cause Dottin not in his de jure seat anymore and the de facto man taking orders lest he lose he pick with that court case hanging over his head like the sword of Damocles.

  7. Well Well & Consequences Avatar
    Well Well & Consequences

    Is it that easy to get a law degree from UWI that most politicians are lawyers, but to hear it, most of them, like PM Stuart, Attorney General Adriel Brathwaite, speaker of the house Michael Carrington, DPP Charles Leacock, are lousy lawyers and are not much better at being honest politicians….why are they even in positions of leadership….I will not say power, because small island power is next to nonexistent. ..they are just playing at being powerful foolish.

    That trend has to be broken, it’s been going on for near 30 years, 3 decades…it has to end….these politicians believe it’s all about them and it’s not.

  8. Well Well & Consequences Avatar
    Well Well & Consequences

    Gabriel…you should see what the Surinamese people do to the leaders when they get pissed off, they have learned to respect the people, no nasty games, any corruption, they are fired….Bajans have to stop being docile. ..it’s time.

  9. pieceuhderockyeahright Avatar
    pieceuhderockyeahright

    @ Well Well and Consequences

    A few erratic thoughts or as my buddy calls them “rants”

    Three actually.

    The ministry of Finance recently made a statement that the government of Barbados has signed some agreement on a military aid program. China ONLY INVESTS IN GOVERNMENTS that (1) have resources that they need (2) are preferably in a state or economic and or political turmoil and are needful of Chinese inputs and (3) will, in return for said aid, vote as part of a new group for Chinese annexation of Taiwan

    The GoB has to be very careful what collaborations they engage with PRC with because the USA will not take favourably to that stated policy in the Caribbean. Already they are fighting China in Africa and Fumbles et al, even if the are looking at bilateral programs with China would be well warned against that theme.

    Finally, it is evident the direction that Darcy is guiding this cuntry. Understandably he realizes that he will never hold a position in government ever again but the crack some heads policies that they are pursuing in clear light of day, like this fingerprinting scam are ill advised

    The majority of Bajans are having difficulty surviving. Slowly as we look around us we see that the average man and woman, AND THE NOT SO AVERAGE, are having difficulty maintaining their standards of living.

    This Barbados is a society fallacy is rapidly evolving into a festering sore with a large section of “the society” feeling that it is opressed by the DLP government and as this situation is steadily worsening each day the ingredients for rioting and mass demonstrations are slowly, but inexorably moving into place.

    Sooner than later our so called docile people will move to that place where the inept governance skills of the DLP and of the party in waiting, will experience what is happening in Bermuda and Suriname.

    Give it time.

  10. de pedantic Dribbler Avatar
    de pedantic Dribbler

    @ are-we-there-yet, as a former senior civil servant I am a tad surprised by your interpretation at this walk-back on the f’priint issue.

    How could any ‘simple’ legislation like this that clearly requires (particularly due to substantive subject matter) to be laid in Parliament under a legislated timeline – which the proverbial blind man on a trotting horse would have seen – get pushed forward by your senior civil servant colleagues who operate the nuts and bolts of government…..UNLESS the Minister simply intended to ram this through.

    Why should a PM who has repeatedly defended the indefensible (like Parris and Carrington) with a smile and strength of conviction not be seen to be fully in charge and comfortable with this comprehensive disingenuous behavior.

    His pronouncements in Parliament were akin to his similar public palaver of the other issues highlighted above…a signal to his acolytes to proceed apace with next steps.

    The walk back was merely a nod and wink of OK give them their due …

    The only thing that is unusual is that we get ‘punked’ by the same basic move every time… deep square-leg and deep fine-leg and bang….yorker in we tail….PM wins again…is he really dat good a bowler or we just love to play de game!.

  11. Well Well & Consequences Avatar
    Well Well & Consequences

    Piece…I agree, a people can only take so much and no more, docile or not. Both political parties better be warned, no matter how corrupt they are and continue to aspire to be….no one can stop the will of the people when they have had enough bad things done to them…

    We shall see how dumb DBLP politicians continue to pretend they are re stopping their corrupt ways, practices and behaviors. That continue to negatively affect the populace.

  12. ac Avatar
    ac

    only thieves and people dealing in fraudulent activity would fear finger printing . the question is why all the noise and barriers when the bio metrics is used to protect You as individual from fraud and deceit
    Carry on smartly with your own indignation ,,Sooner or later the chickens would come home to roost

  13. David Avatar
    David

    What has the government delayed its implementation days after the PM signaled it would be implemented? If you don’t know what is of concern to Bajans living on the island stick to discussing Trump.

  14. millertheanunnaki Avatar
    millertheanunnaki

    @ ac March 20, 2016 at 8:43 AM .
    “… the question is why all the noise and barriers when the bio metrics is used to protect You as individual from fraud and deceit..”

    You mean to say that ordinary Bajans would continue to be exposed to fraud and deceit until further notice pending a decision from the King of Sloth Lord Fumble?

    If Bajans are to truly protect themselves from ‘genuine’ fraud and ‘visible’ deceit they ought to ask the DLP politicians to first fingerprint themselves by promising to never “Cheat, Lie or Steal”.

    I tell you what could have caused the ‘back-down’ by the Lord Almighty Froon from Molasses Hill. The fear of thousands of white Brits and other Europeans in transit to join those ships cruising the Caribbean telling Barbados to piss off.

    Meanwhile, here is a grand business opportunity to make a few millions in the replication and sale of that little red book called the Bimshire diplomatic passport.
    My dear friend ac, why not outfox the Nigerians and have your own local replicating machine just like the guv and his money printing press behind the church village green?
    We are certain OSA would be your first client since you keep accusing him of stealing $75(0),000.00 from the CLICO policyholders.
    Maybe Stinkliar the Lord Categorically “Denier” 11111111111 from I I I I I I I Land can help you with the placing of the decimal point.

  15. David Avatar
    David

    The fact this issue has mobilized the BBA must be scary for the government.

  16. ac Avatar
    ac

    the govt delayed is pursues by good governance giving the public a right to be partakers in wholesome discussion driven by the right of free speech while closing the apparent ‘as usual” noises by the detractors
    However the underlying importance of protection and security would not be comprised as the PM states that going forward the public awareness for this necessary and important piece of legislation would be directed by education
    The PM did what was right in slowing the process down for a short while and in the meantime giving the noise clappers room to breath and likewise educate themselves on the necessity for this piece of legislation

  17. pieceuhderockyeahright Avatar
    pieceuhderockyeahright

    @AC

    You, at least 3 of you, in addition to having sprung from the same fount that Ronald the illiterate We Jonesing has come fro, are similarly spineless

    Even now in the face of seeing that what was being done was against the law, insofar as the process is concerned, you see to soft soap the ineptitude by saying something as disingenuous as giving the noise clappers??? Room to breathe and to educate themselves as to the necessity of this legislation

    You are a serious contender for Dufus Victorium, lord of the ring of idiots.

    As a noise clapper, whatever that is, for I think you mean noise maker, I would be first among those that think that secure processes would stop Humpty Dumpty from selling Bajan passports at $30,000 a pop. I however wanted to know if you plan to put Humpty Dumpty in a witness protection program, because with the advent of this system, if it is implemented truthfully and completely, how will those passports that he sold previously pass this legal dragnet?

    You do know that you and Fumbles have now put someone to kill Humpty Dumpty for those useless passports?

    Maybe the next time you Buhkvnts will start at the beginning instead of ramming jobby down peeples throats, oops sorry but for wunna dere is not going to be a next time is there?

  18. millertheanunnaki Avatar
    millertheanunnaki

    @ ac March 20, 2016 at 9:30 AM

    You have just described a perfect case of ‘Putting the Cart before the Horse’. That is the Modus Operandi of the current administration with its smoke and mirrors management style. The Solid Waste tax and the Cahill scam spring readily to mind.

    So what does “until further notice” mean while Bajans and visitors are exposed to those imminent threats to their personal safety and national security?

    We can tell you what can be done in the meantime while the King of Sloth is stalling for time because those regulations are null and void unless they go through the right parliamentary procedure.
    Why not buy more efficient and effective biometric recording and reading technology where a record of the passport holder’s biometrics are stored on a chip requiring only the swiping of the passport at the ports of exit and entry?

  19. de pedantic Dribbler Avatar
    de pedantic Dribbler

    David admittedly I have not followed this matter very closely but it befuddles me yet to read some of the concerns raised here.

    The PM spoke in Parliament simply to broadcast the reasons for the program…as was rightly questioned here on these pages…he gave credence and validity to it and he said it would be implemented. Then STOP.

    ….Because it is ‘ultra vires’ the legislative process for it to be implemented as laid.

    If it goes forward as is, then it can be legitimately challenged in court. SIMPLE. And regardless of how tardy and delinquent our court system may be the fact is that anyone who challenged it at the airport could not be lawful interdicted.

    Are you telling me that Bajans will fight this to the dire end to ensure that it’s NEVER enacted? On WHAT basis?

    Are you telling me that the Clerk of Parliament or whomever is responsible to move bills through the process did not recognize the fallacy of this failed process..that the drafters in the AGs or PM’s office did not?

    This is simply another two-step move by the PM; the consequences of which are basically NIL.

    I do not condone his actions but I am simply pointing out that its clearly a disingenuous attempt on his part – by speaking to the issue in Parliament – to show that everything was ‘good to go’. It wasn’t according to the info noted in Commisong’s article.

    …And the PM as a lawyer MUST have known that !

    Not my fault that you are so close to the issue that you can’t see the abject ‘gaming’ that is occurring right before your eyes!

    Don’t shoot me Mr Blogmaster…what concerns Bajans…concerns me…what fools Bajans…I try desperately not to let fool me!

  20. ac Avatar
    ac

    Why not buy more efficient and effective biometric recording and reading technology where a record of the passport holder’s biometrics are stored on a chip requiring only the swiping of the passport at the ports of exit and entry?
    /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

    Yeah why NOT but when the bill comes due for the payment of all this grandiose technology hiring and training of employees the govt will send YOU Miller the Bill
    How about that idea Miller ole boy it sounds reasonable enough to me don/t u think

  21. David Avatar
    David

    @Dee Word

    It is obvious this procedure is part of a backroom deal read there is more to what is in the public domain. With these issue which straddle national security the debate will continue. The challenge for Stuart and government is that it has cloaked itself in a culture of silence and limited disclosure. There is no trust and confidence in this government and government in general.

  22. millertheanunnaki Avatar
    millertheanunnaki

    @ ac March 20, 2016 at 10:18 AM

    Instead of sending a bill to a hated foreigner like the miller why not send it to Negroman?

    How about ‘Reallocating’ (that’s big word for you, ac) some of that recently increased budget to the agency which will soon be employed to crack heads and kill poor black people to this much loftier cause of national security?

  23. pieceuhderockyeahright Avatar
    pieceuhderockyeahright

    Ammmm…De Pedantic Dribbler

    You have summarized the matter well

    As the Blogmaster has said there must be something off sheet that is not being accounted for.

    That something is simply the amount od $$ that the US Department of Homeland Security has given the government to implement the shenanigan which, contrary to what the idiot AC would seek to suggest IS NOT BEING PAID FOR by the Government of Barbados but by the US coffers.

    This is a colossal embarrassment to the cuntry and shows the counterpart government how effing stupid the Attorney General , the Minister of State and the Prime Minister, Queen s Counsel collectively are!!!

    Dress it up how you want, they want the money badly, BUT DID NOT SPEND THE TIME examining the processes that go along with the biometrics solution BECAUSE THEY ARE BRASS BOWLS,!!

    So at 2016 once more the DLP administration has shown that, in addition to our Minister of Finance not knowing where to put a decimal point, our prime minister a so called lawyer is ignorant of the laws of his cvntry!!!

  24. pieceuhderockyeahright Avatar
    pieceuhderockyeahright

    Somebody gine loss dem job fuh talking bout dis to she peoples but I ent care (Stacey) you gots tuh learn tuh keep you mout shut while in company

    The brakes get put pun dis not by Fumbles of Mollasses hill in St Michael South East but by the US government

    The this is that, while dis expands US Visit and big brother is watching you, this activity, in the year of US Elections is toxic and the US government does not want any thing that would tarnish the face of the Democratic Government at home via what is a draconian communist procedure by a stupid illiterate government seeking US dollars.

    Imagine if it were to be circulated that they are part of a regime forcing fingerprinting down the mouth of a sovereign nation, even though it is not law?

    Ooops dere go Come Sing a Song visa.

    When wunna choosing peeple to wunna positions be aware uh political loyalties and back stabbers like Darcy Boyce and ting wunna hear???

  25. Well Well & Consequences Avatar
    Well Well & Consequences

    Piece…that is what I was telling Alvin…the illiterati…even if the US has its fingerprints all over the new policy to fingerprint Bajan citizens leaving and entering the island..they DID NOT tell Fruendel and his Fools, most of whom are lawyers, to not give the taxpayers an explanation about why the drastic measures needed to be implemented or to keep it secret from the people, neither did they tell Fruendel and his Fools to violate citizens rights or the constitution of a sovereign state…that vioation was Fruendel and his Fools idea…they have no respect for the people who pay their salaries…time to get them gone.

    Besides..digital passports are a one time spend, easier to use at any port, there are passport readers at Pearson Airport, unfortunately, they cannot read the Barbados passport when you leave Canada, it would save time if they could.

    Dont mind that donkey AC, those would make more sense, the digitally enhanced passports with chips…they got money to waste on crap, the passports are more important.

  26. bajans Avatar
    bajans

    After reading through this blog, it seems to me that the government is willing to prostitute the Island for some US$$$, to the detriment of its citizens……money for service/s rendered?

  27. Colonel Buggy Avatar
    Colonel Buggy

    Today we learn why the T&T police were so quick in identifying a headless female body found recently afloat in a barrel. The young lady, seeking a job , recently applied for a Police Certificate of Character, which requires all applicants to be fingerprinted. In my opinion, even more ,distasteful than what Barbados is attempting to do, given the fact that most potential employers are now asking for a police certificate of character, even for low paid jobs.

  28. de pedantic Dribbler Avatar
    de pedantic Dribbler

    @pieceuhderockyeahright …work with me here a bit on your two posits above. …. As your blogmaster knows based on my background I know that the Bdos Govt has been involved and reviewing fingerprint and various other biometric technologies for years.

    Regardless of the change in politicians and even senior civil servants I know that they MUST HAVE reviewed the laws related to these matters going over those early reviews.

    Remember Pieces your alter ego has spoken on the issue of border security EXTENSIVELY here. He said that he was all up and down the Caribbean and through Lat America and in the US discussing his security software for border protection prior to the world cup down here ….

    …so for a Bajan government to be making a false step on the legal process to implement f’printing in 2016 is beyond weird…

    So per your first post, to be honest I cannot accept that this false start is anything more that a deliberate attempt for subterfuge — why they choose to do that, I have absolutely no idea. So David may be quite right about backroom shenanigans…what and why maybe you can enlighten!

    And to the second post, why would the Bajan implementation of this program affect the US elections one iota?

    Do you really think that with Israel-Palestine; Russia-Crimea and Syria-ISIS not to mention Mexico or any of the other hot button international issues that this absolutely minor nonsense would register on any US radar….Pieces come on !

    Barbados is not an international way-station of terror traffic and even without any fingerprint collection the US is already all over our out-bound traffic into US like a proverbial bad rash.

    This is important to us as Bajans as a privacy and constitutional matter but I see absolutely no nexus of importance to US.

    …it has been noted here and can be reiterated: non-US citizens are fingerprinted on arrival to US.

    …All discrepancies or threats are managed before departure or met squarely on arrival

    …So the only reason that in 2016 the US would be playing catch up with Barbados when they have long deployed intelligence gathering apparatus across their centers of concerns is…

    —- 1) Bdos was never a concern and has become so now- UNLIKELY,

    —- 2) They have already covered the bases here and this is a primarily a local matter to give local authorities something they think they need- Most LIKELY.

    Anyhow but back to the query…so why do YOU think this is of any real interest to the US?

  29. pieceuhderockyeahright Avatar
    pieceuhderockyeahright

    Hold your horses Colonel Buggy, hold them thar horses.

    You evah was did hire a maid?

    Well when you gets older and you body doan do tings like befo’ you may have to and, unless you want tuh hire Lizzie Borden as you housemaid it gine be necessary for you tuh know dat she ent known tuh de law as a tief or a murderess

    I think that the author of the blog, incredibly David Come Sing a Song wasn’t saying no to fingerprinting but to the due process that this government was using.

    Let us be facetious with this just a short while, bear wid de ole man a bit.

    You remember las year how WeJonesing was complaining about de low birf rate and saying dat we need mo’ population tuh sell tings to to create a good economy?

    Jes suppose dat widout due process he was did pass dat into law. And den suppose under dat law and young girl dat was did see you and had did likedted you, pounce pun pun you and me you dem baby fadder? Jes like how AC arbitrarily give Mia chilrun, you cud be ravished, without (a) mekking de bill known and (b) allowed due process cause until dat law was gazette do, dem young women’s wud be raping you.

    Fingerprinting is necessary but the issue is the constitutionality of their plan

  30. Colonel Buggy Avatar
    Colonel Buggy

    pieceuhderockyeahright March 20, 2016 at 4:50 PM #
    Hold your horses Colonel Buggy, hold them thar horses.

    You evah was did hire a maid?
    ……………………………………………………………………………………….
    Recently we have seen men charged for murder given bail. I could be wrong. Do you know that if one of these ‘killers” out on bail, apply for a Police Certificate of Character, the certificate cannot make any reference to murder charge.

  31. pieceuhderockyeahright Avatar
    pieceuhderockyeahright

    I did not know that but I guess as a layperson that until indicted technically they might pass the existing queries on that form so now that you expanded the concept one can see your concern.

    I think the US visa asks two questions in that regard namely have you ever been charged and then have you ever been indicted so you catch a person in the swing, even if they are a murderer and known to the court but never locked up

  32. David Comissiong to File Court Action (Biometrics) Against Government | Barbados Underground

    […] advocacy against The IMMIGRATION (BIOMETRICS) REGULATIONS 2015 are NULL, VOID and Un-Constitutional led by David Comissiong and other parties has met with some success. The Acting Chief Immigration […]

  33. Victor Avatar
    Victor

    I’ve always been against ID cards on the basis that one should not be under an obligation to prove who one is; the obligation ought to rest with those who contest one’s statement, such as police or governments. An individual ought to be free to conduct life without constantly having his or her validity to exist questioned, in their own home.

    I have no problem with CCTV cameras monitoring the activities of people wandering around; these cameras do no more than a person looking out of their own eyes and the film can enhance human memory by showing what actually happened on the street.

    Fingerprinting at airports has a specific role in that it shows who came and who left the island and when. Again, the procedure only duplicates what a human eye could see, so it is no infringement on privacy. I am sure there are those who would prefer that their travelling arrangements are not subject to government scrutiny, yet what’s to hide? Well, did he really just go to St Lucia for the weekend on a conference or did he not leave the island? Pudding and Souse would tell anyway!

    Meanwhile, Barbados is a convenient stopping point for individuals engaged in various criminal activities ranging from smuggling to terrorism, who can pretend to be innocent tourists.
    Bajans should be more than willing to register their fingerprints if only to differentiate themselves from the many foreigners who come to the island.

  34. pieceuhderockyeahright Avatar
    pieceuhderockyeahright

    Well done David Commisiong,

    I wonder if people realize that you and the other two lawyers who successfully fought his action are now branded never to get any legal work from this or the BLP WHEN THEY GET THE GOVERNMENT

  35. David Avatar
    David

    @PUDRYR

    With a number of lawyers pushing up to close to 1,000 and several affiliated with the Opposition party we need to see them challenging questionable decisions in the country. Use their training to add value to our society.

  36. ac Avatar
    ac

    Hal Gallop response vto tge ruling is quite interesting asit delve into the legal parameters of the judges ruling and its effect on what was a govt proposal and not a law.

  37. pieceuhderockyeahright Avatar
    pieceuhderockyeahright

    @ The Honourable Blogmaster

    I am here wondering about

    A.your statement about those 1000+ lawyers
    B.their prospects for work
    C.our problems of a clogged up justice system and strangely enough

    D.Judge Wopner!!

    Let me see if I can explain my errant thoughts

    Who paid David?

    He put a case in the Law Courts of Barbados, one which was driven on nothing but seeing a wrong an fighting against it, and without being paid in the normal way lawyers are paid, he stuck to it for a while, and won

    I am looking for his two colleagues ‘ names because I wanted to congratulate them too but then I wanted to see their “profile” if they were older lawyers I.e. In the business long enough and well practiced enough to weather the fallout of this fingerprinting system that was really commenced under Mia Mottley

    Now I am going to make some assumptions here and we all know what those mean but here goes.

    Their revenues from existing clients, or niche is one that is stolid. In short they don’t breadfruit and rice at nobody

    Many of the others especially the young ones do.

    But Commisiong is aided and capably abetted by the fourth estate which in this case is BU.

    What if one were to look at a Justics For All initiative where David and his team sought to champion the disenfranchised as part of a pilot which commenced in Barbados?

    The Justice for All Foundation (Barbados Chapter) which as an initial focus

    A.sought out matters of such judicial import
    B.coopted 10? of those of the legal community who were skilled, ballsy and committed to the cause and
    C.effected similar actions under an IDB/private sector/non governmental funded governance initiative for participatory democracy with an ICT component

    Judge Wopner

    What is his role?

    Besides funding from the international community for th pilot what if we designed a component where

    A.a pay per view fee of $50 could be requested from each viewer per year, say in Barbados that gave 50,000 viewers I’d can’t calculate what that amounts to
    B.say that the viewers were allowed to vote on their feelings electronically, such votes would not affect the judges ruling but would be part of promoting the efficacy, rather dissemination of the legal process to the general public
    C.suppose there was an additional tier of legal pundits who (I) broke down the matters for people watching in lay man’s terms
    D.suppose sponsorship for the platform were to be sought from advertisers etc
    E.suppose the system in addition to focusing on the good governance issues had provisions for binding AMR Alternative mediation
    F.suppose any citizen who was enrolled might avail themselves of the AMR

    I really have no idea if any of the above might even get off the ground but it seems like if this blog is a microcosm of this bigger process and necessity where we are constrained by the hits of visitors to the Barbados Underground website and instead of young people only having the option to watch wukking up, the will see our issues in living colour and watch the skinning out at their leisure another time

    We must be eclectic of the white man’s system and teif from him that which builds the society that we Bajans want

  38. The Jeff Cumberbatch Column – Time for a Change? | Barbados Underground

    […] and uncontested constitutional challenge by one enlightened citizen, Mr David Commissiong, to the Immigration (Biometrics) Regulations 2015 that purported to empower an immigration functionary to prohibit a Barbadian citizen the freedom to […]

  39. A Citizen’s Response To The Newly Amended Police Act | Barbados Underground

    […] ! These–after all — are the same legislators who, less than two years ago, enacted the The IMMIGRATION (BIOMETRICS) REGULATIONS 2015 are NULL, VOID and Un-Constitutional that stipulated that every Barbadian traveling from or returning to his or her own country had to be […]

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