AT A PRESS BRIEFING ON

As indicated at the Press Conference I held in April to announce the Swift Justice initiative, my team at the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) and I intend to hold regular press briefings so that through the media the Bahamian people can be kept abreast of the work we are doing in the public interest. At these briefings, members of the media will have the opportunity to question us on these and related matters.

Also, these Press Conferences are an opportunity for the public to see and question the leaders in the law firm that represents the government and people of The Bahamas…The Office of the Attorney General (OAG).

DPP…Bernard Turner
DLA…Deborah Fraser
DDPP…Cheryl Bethel
DDLA…Antoinette Bonamy
PS…Jacquelyn Murray
DPS…Leroy Sumner

I am happy to report that we are satisfied with the progress of the Swift Justice initiative and the implementation of the Voluntary Bill of Indictment procedure in serious criminal matters.  We note that the Courts have expressed their approval of the initiative.  In the recent Shanto Curry decision Justice John Isaacs said and I quote “I am heartened that nine years after the passage of the Voluntary Bill of Indictment procedure enabling the Attorney General to bypass the preliminary inquiry process and the time wasting that involves, a push is being made to utilize the VBI process in such serious cases as murder armed robbery rape and kidnapping thereby shortening the time it takes for such matters to come to trial.”

As a result of the initiative, long outstanding matters as well as others which have been outstanding for less than two years are being brought to trial.  We look forward to the day when Voluntary Bill of Indictment (VBI) process for serious offences will enable trials within 12 months.

Today, I am happy to announce further steps to help the Swift Justice initiative.

1. Many businesses and homes have set up security cameras.  Too frequently, the cameras are set up in a way that the police are unable to use the tapes in evidence at trial.  For example, the camera may be angled in such a way that a clear identification of the accused is not possible. In conjunction with the police, OAG shall be meeting with businesses to discuss how adjustments to the security camera set up on their premises can help the police in investigations and OAG in prosecutions.  We hope that the Chamber of Commerce will assist in this regard.

2. Magistrates have agreed to work with the Court Reporters to get to OAG:
    a) A list of all Preliminary Inquiries (PIs) completed but not yet transcribed;
    b) A list of all current PIs and their status before the Magistrates Courts.
 
Bahamians are determined that the backlog in the Magistrates Court be addressed.  Matters in which there have been Preliminary Inquiries cannot be tried in Supreme Court until prosecutors have prepared the file, an essential part of which is the PI transcript.  The delay in this matter is vexing for both accused persons and victims.  The attention of Magistrates to the problem will help us to swiftly deal with the backlog.

On the punishment front, I advise that Maxo Tido has appealed his death sentence. As to the resentencing hearings the result of Bowe and Davis, the Courts have decided that they will initiate the process of quashing and resentencing of those prisoners. Of course, as each case is called, OAG will make submissions on sentencing.

Other matters that I wish to report are:

The country inspection by CFATF (Caribbean Financial Action Task Force).  As you know, The Bahamas is no longer on the FATF monitoring list.  This visit, whilst primarily affecting financial services, is very important to our economy.  It is an Anti Money Laundering (AML) assessment.

Bozine Town.  The Court among other things found that no plaintiff could establish good documentary title and that the court was bound by a decision in the Court of Appeal in the Mather v Grand Bahama Port Authority Ltd.  We are considering the Judgment and will decide shortly on the matter of whether to appeal.

Salaries Review.  Again I’d like to publicly thank the Judicial Review Commission for its landmark work.  Now that the Commission has reported, we are in consultation with all stakeholders and we expect to be able to implement some of the recommendations in this budget round.