A location for the island’s first dedicated Gun Court has been identified after a tour of the Supreme Court Building at Whitepark Road, St Michael, Minister of Legal Affairs and Criminal Justice Michael Lashley revealed yesterday.
Speaking at an event to reopen a Police Community Outpost in Haynesville, St James, Lashley said the focus would now be shifted to significantly cutting down the time it takes for gunrelated offences to go through the system and the culmination of new anti-gun legislation.
Lashley argued that many gun cases were straightforward and should not take years to reach trial. In some instances, he noted, only a handful of witness statements were required to prosecute a basic firearm possession charge.
He outlined a scenario where evidence from the arresting officer, a supporting officer, a licensing official and a firearms expert could be sufficient to bring a case before the High Court within months.
“Let us speed up the system,” he urged, calling for faster preparation of case files and disclosure to ensure swift hearings.
He expressed confidence that legislative reform, improved policing and judicial efficiency, supported by the Barbados Police Service, could once again curb gun crime.
With anti-gun legislation almost complete and institutional reforms advancing, Lashey suggested Barbados was on the cusp of a more responsive and effective criminal justice framework system.
He noted that Barbados continued to grapple with people re-offending while on bail and that too, was under his microscope.
Lashley stressed that while bail remained a constitutional right, it must not be abused.
“Bail is a right but those granted bail also have a responsibility,” he said.
He warned that individuals awaiting trial could not treat their release as “a licence to intimidate communities or continue wrongdoing”, stressing that strict conditions imposed by judges and magistrates must be respected.
He said there was a growing national unease about people on bail allegedly re-offending or undermining community safety, an issue that forced him to place renewed focus on monitoring mechanisms.
The minister said reforms in this area were essential to restoring public confidence.
“The public needs to feel safe. Barbadians need to feel safe,” he said, pointing to offender monitoring as a critical gap that must be addressed.
At the same time, he pushed back against purely punitive approaches, advocating for a balanced strategy that combined enforcement with rehabilitation. Programmes aimed at reforming offenders and reintegrating them into society remain vital to reducing repeat offending, he argued.
“There must be reformation and rehabilitation” he said, highlighting the role of community-based initiatives. He pointed to partnerships with organisations such as the National Peace Programme, the Juvenile Liaison Scheme and the King’s Trust International as part of a broader prevention strategy targeting at-risk youth. (BA)
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