No more mandatory death sentence

THOSE currently at Her Majesty’s Prison Dodds previously convicted of murder and given the then mandatory sentence of death, are set to have their sentences set aside and new sentences imposed.

That’s according to Acting Leader of Government Business in the Senate, Senator Lucille Moe. She made the comments while leading off the debate on the Offences Against the Person (Amendment) Bill 2019 in the Upper House yesterday morning, noting that the amendment was necessary given the change to the law of the mandatory death penalty for murder. Noting that that sentence was deemed to be unconstitutional, she said changes now allow judges to use “discretionary powers” to be able to decide what sentence was suitable for the crime of murder.

“Although this had occurred, you would remember that there would have been people who would have previously been sentenced under previous legislation where the death penalty was mandatory and those people would now be in
a situation where they were not given the same discretionary courtesies as those that now face that identical offence,” she said.

Moe added, “The same way we would consider those fundamental rights and freedoms of individuals in the current instance of sentencing, one would have to then look at those who are currently facing the death penalty and the mandatory sentencing and clearly ensure that those people are given the identical rights as anyone else.”

The Senator said by doing this, these inmates are being given the chance to have an alternate sentence imposed and it will help to uphold the basic human rights they are entitled to.

“...This is not an emotive issue, it is merely a legal issue and one where we need to be in compliance with perfecting and ensuring that a person’s fundamental rights and fundamental freedoms are not violated and we do not abrogate the most basic rights someone has, which is the right of fairness in law and this is all that this Bill is attempting to do,” she said. (JRT)