Gov’t returns businesswoman’s passport amid rights breach claim

A Jamaican businesswoman, who accused immigration authorities of unlawfully seizing her passport, scored a major victory in court on Friday when the document was returned to her after nearly seven months in government custody.

The passport of Jacqueline Dahlia Thompson was handed over during a hearing before Supreme Court Judge Tricia Johnson. It’s understood that the State did not provide any explanation for the prolonged detention of the document.

Thompson, who resides in the United States and regularly travels to Jamaica for business, had filed a constitutional claim in March against the minister of national security and the attorney general, alleging violations of her rights under Jamaica’s Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms.

NO COMMENT FROM ATTORNEYS

Her attorneys, King’s Counsel Peter Champagnie and Neco Pagon, declined to comment when contacted following Friday’s development.

Representing the attorney general at the hearing was attorney Robert Clarke. Philbert Smith appeared for the Passport, Immigration and Citizenship Agency (PICA), the entity that initially seized the document.

Despite the return of the passport, the legal battle is not over.

The court is scheduled to continue hearing the remainder of Thompson’s claim on November 18, when arguments for constitutional breaches and damages for inconvenience and hardship are expected to be heard.

The legal action stems from a November 15, 2024 incident at the Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston, where Thompson said she was removed from an aircraft and directed to PICA’s Constant Spring Road office in St Andrew. There, her passport, issued in January 2022, was confiscated, and she was given a receipt.

Three days later, Thompson said she was interviewed and told a photograph resembling her had been linked to a previous passport application. Thompson denied any involvement, noting that her passport renewals were handled exclusively through the Jamaican Consulate in New York.

NO OFFICIAL REASON

Court filings allege that PICA failed to provide any official reason for the seizure or the subsequent months-long detention of the document. Thompson says she made several visits to PICA and sent formal letters through her attorneys in January 2025 seeking a resolution, but received no written response.

She was told in mid-January that a recommendation had been made to return her passport and was invited to collect it. However, when she visited the agency on January 17, it was still not released, the filings state.

Her claim argues that the seizure and continued withholding of her travel document, without charge, communication, or due process, breached her constitutional rights. These include her right to freedom from inhumane or inequitable treatment (Section 13(3)(h)), the right to be granted and not arbitrarily deprived of a passport (Section 13(3)(n)), and the right to a fair and timely hearing (Sections 13(3)(r) and 16).

Thompson said the incident caused her significant embarrassment and financial loss, including missed flights, hotel fees, and medical expenses. She is seeking damages for those losses, as well as declarations that her constitutional rights were violated.

The businesswoman has maintained that she has never been charged with any offence and that PICA’s actions were arbitrary and unlawful.

The Government has not publicly explained the basis for the original seizure or the decision to return the passport this week, nor has a formal defence been filed in the matter.

jovan.johnson@gleanerjm.com