ATTORNEY General A J Nicholson on Wednesday blasted the media for what he said was the shallow coverage of issues concerning the Offences Against the Person and the Incest Punishment Acts, particularly marital rape.

“How I wish I were a journalist. Something like this would be nice to deal with and do some research instead of everyday just putting in the newspaper what people phone and tell you,” Nicholson said at Wednesday’s sitting of the joint select committee considering amendments to the bills at Gordon House in Kingston.

According to the attorney general, while it could be argued that the justice system was in a crisis, there was also a ‘deep crisis in journalism in Jamaica’.

“I was speaking to a senior journalist the other day and he said you all have been saying how the justice system is in crisis which might be true, but there is a deep crisis in journalism in Jamaica. We need to go and do some work,” said Nicholson, who chairs the committee.

He was supported by committee member Sharon Hay-Webster who said much of the church leadership were ‘uncomfortable’ with the issues raised by the pieces of legislation. This, according to the attorney general, was also a fault of the local media.

“That is because they have not read nor been told,” he said.

“Instead of discussing in newsrooms whether you can have marital rape or not, go and do some research and educate the public,” he said.

On Wednesday, the committee said the draft report concerning the acts was ready after some six months of deliberations.

Members spent the better part of some three hours rehashing issues which had been the subject of much of the discussions over the period and fine-tuning several aspects of the report which had been prepared over a three-week break.

Nicholson said the intention was to get the committee to sign off broadly on the issues in the two pieces of legislation so a final report could be prepared.

But a fresh round of debate was sparked when committee member Senator Dorothy Lightbourne said she remained ‘uncomfortable’ with the committee’s decision that marital rape would receive the same treatment as rape under the law.

“I know we took a decision that rape is rape but I think we should approach it with caution because we are dealing with family issues; there may be children involved and a whole family could be destroyed and somehow or other I feel it should be put in a slightly different category,” the Senator said.

“I agree rape is rape but I’ve been sort of exercising my mind as to how we can preserve the family,” she added.

Nicholson, in noting that the concern was one which had been brought up before, said the issue was not likely to go away regardless of the treatment applied.

“Regardless of how it is included in the legislation that concern is going to remain; the best they did in drafting the legislation was that with marital rape it was only in specified circumstances that the charge could be made,” the attorney general said.

“I share your concerns but I don’t know what we can do,” he added.

In the end the draft was accepted by members. The Committee is to meet again on June 6 at which time it is hoped that the members will sign off on a final draft before submitting to parliament for approval.