Protection of right to personal liberty

13. 1. No person shall be deprived of his personal liberty save as may be authorized by law in any of the following cases, that is to say -

a. in consequence of his unfitness to plead to a criminal charge or in execution of the sentence or order of a court, whether established for Barbados or some other country, in respect of a criminal offense of which he has been convicted;

b. in execution of an order of the High Court or the Court of Appeal or such other court as may be prescribed by Parliament punishing him for contempt of any such court or of another court or tribunal;

c. in execution of the order of a court made to secure the fulfillment of any obligation imposed on him by law;

d. for the purpose of bringing him before a court in execution of the order of a court;

e. upon reasonable suspicion of his having committed, or being about to commit, a criminal offense under the law of Barbados;

f. in the case of a person who has not attained the age of twenty-one years, under the order of a court or with the consent of his parent or guardian, for the purpose of his education or welfare;

g. for the purpose of preventing the spread of an infectious or contagious disease;

h. in the case of a person who is, or is reasonably suspected to be, of unsound mind, addicted to drugs or alcohol, or a vagrant, for the purpose of his care or treatment or the protection of the community;

i. for the purpose of preventing the unlawful entry of that person into Barbados, or for the purpose of effecting the expulsion, extradition or other lawful removal of that person from Barbados or for the purpose of restricting that person while he is being conveyed through Barbados in the course of his extradition or removal as a convicted prisoner form one country to another; or

j. to such extent as may be necessary in the execution of a lawful order requiring that person to remain within a specified area within Barbados or prohibiting him from being within such an area, or to such extent as may be reasonably justifiable for the taking of proceedings against that person with a view to the making of any such order or relating to such an order after it has been made or to such extent as may be reasonably justifiable for restraining that person during any visit that he is permitted to make to any part of Barbados in which, in consequence of any such order, his presence would otherwise be unlawful.

2. Any person who is arrested or detained shall be informed as soon as reasonably practicable, in a language that he understands, of the reasons for his arrest or detention and shall be permitted, at his own expense, to retain and instruct without delay a legal adviser of his own choice, being a person entitled to practice in Barbados as a barrister or solicitor, and to hold private communication with him; and in the case of a person who has not attained the age of sixteen years he shall also be afforded a reasonable opportunity for communication with his parent or guardian.

3. Any person who is arrested or detained -

a. for the purpose of bringing him before a court in execution of the order of a court; or

b. upon reasonable suspicion of his having committed or being about to commit a criminal offense.

and who is not released, shall be brought before a court as soon as is reasonably practicable; and if any person arrested or detained upon reasonable suspicion of his having committed or being about to commit a criminal offense is not tried within a reasonable time, then, without prejudice to any further proceedings which may be brought against him, he shall be released either unconditionally or upon reasonable conditions, including in particular such conditions as are reasonably necessary to ensure that he appears at a later date for trial or for proceedings preliminary to trial.

4. Any person who is unlawfully arrested or detained by any other person shall be entitled to compensation therefor from that other person.

5. Nothing contained in or done under the authority of any law shall be held to be inconsistent with or in contravention of the foregoing provisions of this section to the extent that the law in question authorizes the taking during a period of public emergency of measures that are reasonably justifiable for the purpose of dealing with the situation that exists during that period of public emergency.

6. Where a person is detained by virtue of such a law as is referred to in subsection (5), the following provisions shall apply -

a. he shall, as soon as reasonably practicable and in any case not more than five days after the commencement of his detention, be furnished with a statement in writing, in a language that he understands, of the grounds upon which he is detained;

b. not more that fourteen days after the commencement of his detention, a notification shall be published in the Gazette stating that he has been detained and giving particulars of the provision of law under which his detention is authorized;

c. he may from time to time request that his case be reviewed under paragraph (d) but, where he has made such a request, no subsequent request shall be made before the expiration of three months from the making of the previous request;

d. where a request is made under paragraph (c), the case shall, within one month of the making of the request, be reviewed by an independent and impartial tribunal established by law and presided over by a person appointed by the Chief Justice from among persons entitled to practice in Barbados as barristers or solicitors; and

e. he shall be afforded reasonable facilities to consult and instruct, at his own expense, a legal adviser of his own choice, being a person entitled to practice as aforesaid, and he and any such legal adviser shall be permitted to make written or oral representations or both to the tribunal appointed for the review of his case.

7. On any review by a tribunal in pursuance of subsection (6) of the case of any detained person, the tribunal may make recommendations concerning the necessity or expediency of continuing his detention to the authority by whom it was ordered, but, unless it is otherwise provided by law, that authority shall not be obliged to act in accordance with any such recommendations.

8. When any person is detained by virtue of such a law as is referred to in subsection (5) the Prime Minister or a Minister authorized by him shall, not more than thirty days after the commencement of the detention and thereafter not more than thirty days after the making of the previous report, make a report to each House stating the number of persons detained as aforesaid and the number of cases in which the authority that ordered the detention has not acted in accordance with the recommendations of a tribunal appointed in pursuance of subsection (6):

Provided that in reckoning any period of thirty days for the purposes of this subsection no account shall be taken of any period during which Parliament stands prorogued or dissolved.