A HIGH Court judge has again urged legislative reform to ensure police officers who unlawfully arrest citizens are disciplined and held personally accountable for their actions by being made to pay court-awarded damages rather than borne by taxpayers.

Justice Frank Seepersad made the call on January 20, after ruling that a special reserve police officer acted maliciously and outside the rule of law in the 2019 arrest and prosecution of a Sangre Grande man.

The ruling arose from a claim filed by Jawanza Simmons of Guaico, a self-employed businessman, against the Attorney General and special reserve constable Cleon Smith over an encounter outside the Shops of Cunapo on November 20, 2019.