New measures coming to tackle crime
There are several proposals on the table to introduce legislative changes, including amendments to the Bail Act, all in an effort to help deal with the crime problem.
Word of this has come from Attorney General and Minister of Home Affairs, Adriel Brathwaite.
He told those attending the Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association’s Third Quarterly General Meeting, convened at the Hilton Hotel on Wednesday, that this is being considered as they are cognisant of the concerns regarding the number of individuals who seem to go into the prison system charged with serious offences, and given
bail, ending back up on our streets to re-offend.
“Our proposal for this is that we are going to amend the Bail Act so that such individuals who are charged with firearm related offences and murders, with certain exceptions, in fact cannot be granted bail for a period of 18 months,” he explained.
The AG further stated that hand-in-hand with that, they are proposing that those cases be fast tracked, so that those persons are not sitting in prison for 18 months awaiting trial and then given bail when the matter does not go before the court within that time period.
He made the point as he confirmed that preliminary inquiries have been abolished, and he said that he has been informed by Chief Justice (CJ), Sir Marston Gibson, that plea bargaining will be introduced. Brathwaite said that the CJ is set to implement that practice direction by the end of October to do all within their power to ensure that the serious matters that come before the court are expedited.
The attorney general also revealed that steps are also being made to put a new Firearms Bill in place. Brathwaite indicated that the new Bill is currently being finalised and will introduce not only strict penalties, but a strong regulatory framework for licensed firearm holders, gun clubs, ranges as well as sellers of firearms and ammunition.
“What we are trying to do is to ensure that there is no leakage. Our concern is that from what we are seeing is that these individuals seem not only to have access to the illegal firearms, but to the ammunition, and so we want to ensure that our legal providers are not conduits to this bad behaviour,” he said.
Attorney General Brathwaite’s comments came as he revealed that the much talked about Civil Assets Forfeiture Act is also being finalised and should in fact be placed before Parliament next month for approval. Brathwaite stated that the goal of this proposed piece of legislation is to take the benefits out of crime.
“There is something wrong with a chap being able to drive around a Range Rover etc with no discernible source of income, and what we are going to is, we are going to put regiment in place that we don’t have to even wait until that is a criminal matter before the court, that in fact he can be called to account if we believe that in fact your source of wealth is from illegal sources,” he added.
(JRT)