could not be the case that the Committee expects a reply on each and every allegation made by the applicant, since some of these are patently unmeritorious.” Decision on admissibility and review thereof 5.1 On the basis of the information before it, the Human Rights Committee concluded that the conditions for declaring the communication admissible had been met, including the requirement of exhaustion of domestic remedies. Accordingly, on 24 July 1989, the Human Rights Committee declared the communication admissible. 5.5 With regard to the State party’s objection that the Committee’s decision on admissibility was too broad, the Committee notes that the author’s allegations were sufficiently precise and substantiated so as to allow the State party to address them. As to the merits of the author’s allegations, it is for the Committee to consider them after declaring the communication admissible, in light of all the information provided by both parties. 5.2 The Committee has noted the State party’s submissions of 10 January and 4 September 1990, made after the decision on admissibility, in which it reaffirms its position that the communication is inadmissible on the ground of non-exhaustion of domestic remedies. 5.6 With regard to the State party’s arguments on admissibility, especially in respect of the availability of constitutional remedies which the author may still pursue, the Committee recalls that the Supreme Court of Jamaica has, in recent cases, allowed applications for constitutional redress in respect of breaches of fundamental rights, after the criminal appeals in these cases had been dismissed. 5.3 On 24 July 1991, the Committee adopted an interlocutory decision requesting the State party to furnish detailed information on the availability of legal aid or free legal representation for the purpose of constitutional motions, as well as examples of such cases in which legal aid may have been granted or free legal representation may have been procured by the applicant. The State party was further requested to submit to the Committee written explanations or statements relating to the substance of the author’s allegations. 5.7 However, the Committee notes that by submission of 14 January 1992, the State party indicated that legal aid is not provided for constitutional motions; it also recalls that the State party has argued, by submission of 10 October 1991 concerning another case2 that it has no obligation under the Covenant to make legal aid available in respect of such motions, as they do not involve the determination of a criminal charge, as required under article 14, paragraph 3 (d), of the Covenant. In the view of the Committee, this supports the finding, made in the decision on admissibility, that a constitutional motion is not an available remedy for an author who has no means of his own to pursue it. In this context, the Committee observes that the author does not claim that he is absolved from pursuing constitutional remedies because of his indigence; rather it is the State party’s unwillingness or inability to provide legal aid for the purpose that renders the remedy one that need not be pursued for purposes of the Optional Protocol. 5.4 On 14 January 1992, the State party reiterates its position that the communication is inadmissible for non-exhaustion of domestic remedies and requests the Committee to revise its decision on admissibility. It submits that there is no provision for legal aid or free legal representation in constitutional motions. With regard to the Committee’s decision that the communication is admissible in so far as it may raise issues under article 14 of the Covenant, the State party demurs that article 14 has seven paragraphs and that it is not clear to what particular paragraph the finding of admissibility relates. “The Committee should indicate the specific provisions of article 14 or indeed of any of the articles to which its findings of admissibility relate, and in relation to which, therefore, Government is being asked to reply; additionally, the Committee must indicate the allegation made by the applicant which has given rise to the finding of admissibility in relation to a particular paragraph of article 14 or any other article. Failure by the Committee to provide this indication will leave the Government in the dark as to the precise allegation and breach to which it must respond in commenting on the merits. For it 5.8 The Committee further notes that the author was arrested in 1981, tried and convicted in 1983, and that his appeal was dismissed 2 Communication No. 283/1988 (Aston Little v. Jamaica), Views adopted on 1 November 1991. 50

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