On November 3, 2026, prominent attorney-at-law Richard “Dickie” Bradley issued a critical public clarification on the intersection of sweeping police powers granted under the ongoing State of Emergency and longstanding constitutional protections for detained individuals, pushing back against growing public confusion over whether emergency provisions override standard detention timelines.
While the State of Emergency framework grants law enforcement expanded authority to conduct targeted crackdowns in high-risk areas, Bradley emphasized that no provision of the emergency declaration supersedes core rights enshrined in Section 5(3) of the national Constitution, the supreme legal document of the country. Bradley stressed that his remarks were not personal opinion, but a direct restatement of binding legal statute: any person arrested or detained, whether held to appear before a court or on reasonable suspicion of having committed or planning to commit a criminal offense, must be brought before a judicial official without undue delay, and in no scenario later than 48 hours from the time of detention.
Bradley outlined additional non-negotiable constitutional requirements for all detentions: law enforcement officers are legally obligated to immediately inform a detained person of the full reasons for their arrest, and must facilitate unimpeded access to a legal representative of the detainee’s choosing, rather than delaying or denying phone calls to legal counsel. He noted that even minor administrative excuses, such as unconnected call attempts, do not justify holding a person without meeting these obligations.
The veteran legal advocate warned that these 48-hour detention rules are currently being violated with impunity across the country, as widespread public ignorance of basic constitutional rights leaves many detainees unaware that extended, unprocessed detentions are unlawful. Bradley criticized local media for failing to prioritize coverage of these fundamental rights beyond superficial evening newscast segments, arguing that this lack of public education has allowed unlawful detention practices to become normalized. He concluded by noting that the country’s judiciary is explicitly designated as the official guardian of these enshrined civil liberties, with a legal mandate to enforce compliance even during periods of emergency governance.