THE NEW BAIL CONDITIONS
A new Bail Act was debated by the House of Assembly, but then despite the urgency that was said to exist, the debate was shelved so the Opposition could make its input on the Bail Act. We go with the Attorney General’s first statement, there is no need to amend the Bail Act. The courts have sufficient authority to deal with the matter of bail. The amendments themselves won’t solve the problem of getting bail either. But there often comes a time in the life of a Government when it is better to be seen doing something than nothing, even if something will change nothing.
The ink on the paper was not dry yet before the lawyers and judges started poking holes in the proposed law, in their back chats. The fact is the Court of Appeal has ruled that mandatory minimum sentences are an interference in the independence of the judiciary and in the gun cases they have not been applying them and have set aside many. So when you eliminate fines, as this new Bail Act mandates, that will fall afoul of that ruling right away. The other point is that in order to find someone guilty of violating the terms and conditions of the bail granted, you have to have a trial. At the trial, the person can seek bail for the charge of violating the bail conditions. The Government cannot constitutionally ban bail.
We leave it there, while Parliament and its drafters figure out how to do something which actually does something.
Number of hits for the week ending Saturday 3 February 2024 up to midnight: 314,443;
Number of hits for the month of January up to Wednesday 31st January 2024 up to midnight: 111,747;
Number of hits for the year 2024 up to Saturday 3rd February 2024 up to midnight: midnight: 1,623,782;