KINGSTON, Jamaica — General Secretary of the People’s National Party (PNP) Julian Robinson in welcoming this morning’s ruling by the Constitutional Court to strike down the National Identification and Registration (NIDS) Act in its entirety says that the decision is a vindication of the value of the Jamaica Constitution.

“The decision today is a vindication of the value of the Jamaica Constitution and its Charter on fundamental rights and freedoms and the right that it gives to every Jamaican to ensure that the laws which Parliament enacts are consistent with the Charter of Rights,” Robinson said in a statement this afternoon.

He emphasised that the decision clarifies, “especially for us as Parliamentarians, our duty to make sure the laws we enact are consistent with the constitution. A less hurried approach to this legislation would have avoided this process.”

The general secretary said the court’s ruling is more generally, a critical one, in helping all Jamaicans understand the importance and scope of the new Charter of Rights, and especially rights such as the right to privacy which is protected more fully in the 2011 Charter.

“The court’s ruling also gives very importance guidance on the burden on the state to justify limits on the fundamental rights and freedoms in the Charter. It is not that legislation cannot limit these rights but they must be demonstrably justifiable in a democratic society, and that is a high standard,” Robinson said.

In handing down the ruling, Chief Justice Bryan Sykes said: “Having declared some of the provisions in violation of the Charter, we are of the view that what was left in the NIDS Act could not stand. Therefore, the entire NIDS Act is to be declared null and void and of no legal effect.”

Robinson, who is the claimant, requested several declarations from the court on the basis that certain provisions of the National Identification and Registration Act abrogates, abridges and infringes particular rights outlined in the Constitution of Jamaica.

Sykes said the court felt that there was a violation of the Constitutional rights to privacy and that the justification given by the Government did not meet the Constitutional standards.

The Bill was passed in Parliament in November 2017 with more than 260 amendments amidst tensions between the Government and the Opposition PNP.

The full court panel, comprising Chief Justice Sykes, Justice David Batts and Justice Lisa Palmer Hamilton heard submissions from the parties from October 22-24 last year.

The NIDS project, which is being funded by the Inter-American Development Bank and the Government of Jamaica, is intended to create a national database for all Jamaicans providing each citizen with a unique national identification number.