Lawyers maintain threat to withdraw criminal court services for one week starting Monday

Defence lawyers are maintaining their threat to withdraw services from Jamaica’s criminal courts for one week, beginning Monday, September 28, as their concerns over mandatory minimum sentences under the firearms laws remain unresolved.

The planned withdrawal is expected to continue through Friday, October 2, following a nearly two-hour meeting on Thursday between representatives of the Jamaican Bar Association (JAMBAR), the Advocates’ Association of Jamaica (AAJ) and Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister Delroy Chuck.

AAJ President Tamika Harris said the association welcomed the meeting but was disappointed that no timeline was given for legislative amendments.

“The protest is still on,” Harris said. “We have waited long enough.”

The lawyers are demanding changes to the Firearms (Prohibition, Restriction and Regulation) Act, 2022, particularly the mandatory minimum sentences, which they say have significantly reduced judges’ ability to consider the circumstances of individual cases.

The issue was at the centre of a silent protest by members of the legal profession outside the Supreme Court in downtown Kingston on Wednesday.

READ: https://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/news/20260924/silent-attorneys-declare-decisions-gun-crimes-must-be-left-judges

Jamaican Bar Association President Tenneshia Watkins said the mandatory minimum sentence was the biggest concern.

“The biggest issue we have is the mandatory minimum which has taken away the discretion of the judge totally and we continue to have the backlogs, cases not moving through the system as they should,” Watkins said.

She said removing the mandatory minimum would be a major step towards addressing the concerns.

Attorney Peter Champagnie, KC, said the law should not treat every case in the same way.

“It cannot be a Cinderella approach, not one size fits all,” Champagnie said.

The lawyers have also raised concerns about imitation firearms, arguing that these cases should not automatically attract the same treatment as possession of a real firearm.

“When we speak about the imitation firearms as well, we can’t lump every matter the same way. One possession is not the same as the other. We can’t treat these matters uniformly,” Watkins said.

The concerns have also been raised by senior figures within the justice system.

Director of Public Prosecutions Claudette Thompson, KC, has previously said the law should allow for appropriate penalties based on the circumstances of individual cases.

Chief Justice Bryan Sykes has also raised concerns about the impact of mandatory minimum sentences on guilty pleas and the backlog in the Gun Court.

“So if everybody is going off to prison for a minimum time, what does it matter whether I plead guilty or not?” Sykes was quoted as saying.

Harris said this is particularly relevant as the Government seeks to encourage greater use of plea negotiations to reduce delays in the criminal justice system.

“You cannot tell accused persons to plead guilty while maintaining a sentencing regime that may remove the meaningful incentive to plead guilty,” she said.

The AAJ is also questioning the procedure under Section 42K of the Criminal Justice (Administration) Act, which allows certain cases involving potentially excessive mandatory sentences to be taken to the Court of Appeal.

Harris questioned why a trial judge should first be required to impose a sentence that the judge considers excessive and unjust.

“We are asking that judges be permitted to judge,” said the AAJ president.

NOT SOFT ON CRIME

The lawyers say their position is not about being soft on crime.

“We are not saying we want to be soft on crime. We all want a safe Jamaica to live in,” Watkins said.

The Government has acknowledged that some provisions of the firearms legislation need to be changed. National Security and Peace Minister Dr Horace Chang said in April that amendments would be brought to Parliament “in short order”.

Harris said frustration has grown over the delay.

“That was April. It is now the end of September,” she said.

Following Thursday’s meeting, Justice Minister Chuck described the discussions as “extremely cordial” and said the lawyers had agreed to submit joint proposals for amendments early next week.

The lawyers, however, say they will proceed with the planned withdrawal on Monday unless their concerns are addressed.

“Strong gun laws and fair gun laws are not competing objectives,” Harris said. “Jamaica deserves both.”

- Tanesha Mundle

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