Lawyer questions need for gun court amid resource strain

A defence attorney is questioning whether Barbados needs a dedicated firearms court at this stage, arguing that strengthening existing courts and support services could deliver faster results in tackling case backlogs and gun crime.

While acknowledging the island’s pressing struggles with gun violence, defence counsel Shadia Simpson suggested that reinforcing the existing judicial framework might have yielded a swifter and more sustainable solution to the chronic backlog plaguing the criminal justice system.

The government’s decision to introduce a dedicated court to fast-track firearm-related offences is intended to accelerate trial proceedings. But in an interview with Barbados TODAY, Simpson raised doubts about whether introducing a new tribunal is necessary or practical, given the current structural deficits in the legal system.

“I think that a specialisation in court is not necessary at this time,” Simpson said. “What I recognise is that we do have an issue with gun violence. However, I believe that we already have eight criminal courts working. We have courts that are already dedicated to dealing with more serious matters, such as murders and firearm-related matters, Court 3, for example. So I personally don’t think that we needed this at this time.”

At the heart of the attorney’s concern is the strain on essential judicial support services. She pointed out that administrative delays, which frequently stall the progression of cases, stem from a lack of personnel and modern tools rather than a lack of specialised courtrooms.

“We already have limited resources, so sometimes the sentencing reports, for example, take an extremely long time to reach the courts because the probation officers are stretched,”  Simpson explained. “I just think that the resources could have been allocated better if you wanted to see a more efficient criminal justice system. And I don’t think that necessarily is the best use of resources to establish a specialised gun court at this time.”

When asked whether the creation of a specialised gun court might lead to separate tribunals for other high-profile crimes on the island, Simpson dismissed those concerns.

She cited regional precedents, noting that other Caribbean jurisdictions have long used similar arrangements without destabilising their legal systems.

“I personally don’t think that it creates any real concern for me,” she remarked. “We’ve seen it in other jurisdictions where there are, for example, Jamaica, where there’s a specialised gun court. So I don’t personally think that there’s any issue in terms of other high-profile matters and perhaps having specialised courts for those matters. In some places, they have drug courts. I personally don’t have a challenge with it. It’s just that to me, if we want to clean up the backlog and we want to address crime, I just think that there are better ways to do it.”

A major logistical hurdle identified by the attorney is the manpower shortage within the criminal Bar. She warned that adding another court without expanding the pool of available legal practitioners could worsen delays, stretching defence counsel and prosecutors even further.

“You don’t knock things until you try them, yes, but to me one of the challenges is the fact that again you don’t have the manpower,” Simpson cautioned. “I don’t know if there are going to be prosecutors assigned, but you still have the same handful of attorneys who practise at the criminal Bar who are now going to not only be stretched between the eight existing criminal courts, but now who are expected to also be in these courts as well. So I personally don’t think that it may have the desired results.”

Simpson further elaborated on the daily strain this would place on lawyers managing heavy caseloads across multiple courts, noting that it is easier to manage matters when a single court handles a range of cases. Having to move between specialised venues, she said, complicates the administration of justice.

Nevertheless, she acknowledged that the escalation in gun-related crime requires decisive action, adding that the legal community will have to wait to see whether the initiative delivers results.

Reflecting on how the existing system might perform with stronger financial and structural support, Simpson pointed to the lack of modern technology, particularly in the lower courts where manual processes remain in use.

“I certainly think the existing framework could handle it,” she said. “For example, we are now waiting in some instances for two to two and a half months to get a pre-sentencing report, and the probation officers are extremely stretched. They’re working with limited resources and they have to service some courts, so we understand the constraints.”

“In the magistrates’ court, for example”, Simpson added, “we aren’t even to a place where there are transcripts available from the proceedings. You still have magistrates writing by hand. If we had tried to deal with those foundational things first, we could get matters moving through the system a lot faster.”

(RR)