Bail Bill ‘threatens fundamental rights’

The proposed Bail Bill moved to the Senate on Wednesday after its passage in the House of Assembly amid a sustained attack from Opposition Senator Tricia Watson. She claims it poses a threat to Barbadians’ fundamental rights and fails to address the root causes of the judicial system’s significant backlog.

Senator Watson argued that the legislation in its current form is not only constitutionally flawed but also inadequate in tackling delays within the justice system.

She cited a 2021 study by American criminal justice expert Lina Marmolejo, which found that 57 per cent of Dodds Prison inmates are on remand. “We are being made to believe that our courts are setting the criminals out there to run rampant, and clearly that is not so,” she told lawmakers.

The senator highlighted that the average time between arrests and preliminary statements in court is 62 days, emphasising the need for speedier judicial processes. “Get them before the courts quickly, deal with the matter quickly, dispose of it, sentence them if they are found guilty, and put them in jail. That is the actual answer,” Senator Watson asserted.

Expressing concern over provisions in the Bill that allow prosecutors to override magistrates’ bail decisions, the opposition warned of the constitutional dangers this presents. She said that there are multiple mentions in the new Bill, that suggest “a magistrate gives bail on the merit, and a prosecutor can override it just like that” which in her view is a very dangerous path to take constitutionally.

“I have taken note since 2018 of the callous attitude that this government takes towards their legislative initiatives,” she declared. “They said in the [House] on this Bill: ‘We expect constitutional challenges, go court that is what the courts are there for.’ It’s not as simple as that, if you go into court you are another case in the court, a bottleneck. Backing up the system. That means that you passed the law in a hurry, bottleneck, the courts are overwhelmed, and the delays are compounded and compounded.

“The accused would say, I don’t know the law, I need some legal aid, legal aid is overburdened, and underfunded. The government is not doing anything about that.”

The senator emphasised that there were other areas in which the government could focus on, that would go a long way in helping to pull back the tide of crime, which includes focusing on the persons and businesses who profit off of it, by passing a proceeds of crime bill.

“Go after the money, make crime now lucrative,” Senator Watson suggested. “Add to the anti-money laundering law political candidates and political parties, take the money out of crime. Proper screening in the ports, police the marinas, and invoke the Income Tax Act. Business people in here getting audited, and people here in this country living large and never worked a day in their life. We are watching people who are clearly living off of ill-gotten gains.”

She added: “I am asking senators to take cognisant of the assault on the Constitution that this Bill is doing. I am asking Barbadians to pay attention. This Bill should not pass in its present form… It is a wolf in sheep’s clothing.” (SB)