bahamiangoddess
06-26-08, - 11:46 AM
June 26th, 2008
Plea Bargaining Bill In House
By Macushla N. Pinder
The government took a key step Wednesday toward eliminating the need for every criminal case to be brought before the courts.
The move is intended to reduce the growing backlog of such matters in The Bahamas.
The Criminal Procedure Bill is designed to introduce plea bargaining into the criminal justice system.
Moving the Bill in the House of Assembly Wednesday, Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham acknowledged that at the moment, almost "every killing" in The Bahamas is a murder irrespective of its intent.
To date, The Bahamas has recorded 33 murders for 2008.
"There are few charges of manslaughter ever brought and sometimes others have discovered that when offers of manslaughter or a certain level of murder is brought to the table, persons may be inclined to plead guilty and be sentenced rather than tie up a system for years, creating substantial backlogs," Mr. Ingraham said.
"That has not been our history in The Bahamas of plea bargaining at all. So we would like to consider the introduction of plea bargaining."
Under the Bill, plea discussions would take place between the accused person and a prosecutor or between the attorney for an accused person and a prosecutor.
According to the Bill, this would take place either before the arraignment of the accused person or "at any time" after the trial begins with the view towards arriving at an agreement.
This particular course of action includes a recommendation to the court to dismiss other charges or for a particular sentence; an agreement not to oppose a request by the accused person or his/her attorney for a particular sentence and an agreement that a specific sentence is appropriate for the disposition of the case.
The government is also hoping to review and discuss a number of matters relating to the Criminal Procedure Code.
TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS BILL
With that in mind, Mr. Ingraham moved a Bill relating to the trafficking of persons through The Bahamas, which he admitted now occurs more frequently than it did in the past when it was primarily related to drugs.
Under the Trafficking in Persons Bill, a person would commit the offense of trafficking in persons for the purpose of exploitation if he or she recruits, transports, transfers, harbours or receives another person from another country into The Bahamas.
Whoever engages, conspires or attempts to engage in or facilitates in trafficking persons will be sentenced to not less than three years or more than five years’ imprisonment. They could also be subject to the forfeiture of property or be ordered to pay full restitution, according to the proposed legislation
Based on a recent report on 170 countries, which evaluates the extent of the human trafficking problem around the world, the United States Government continued to worry that The Bahamas may be a destination and transit point for trafficked persons who are forced into labour and commercial sexual exploitation.
In fact, the U.S. Department of State, which compiled the report, cited The Bahamas as a special case with officials reporting that limited data suggests a possible labour trafficking problem here.
This is the third consecutive year The Bahamas has been deemed a special case due to the large numbers of undocumented migrants in the country, which raises concerns that there may be a significant number of trafficking victims in need of assistance.
Unofficial conservative estimates are that there are between 30,000 and 60,000 undocumented Haitians in The Bahamas.
If all goes as planned, the government is also hoping to debate and pass an amendment to the Criminal Law Miscellaneous Act.
The Bill seeks to amend the Penal Code, the Criminal Procedure Code Act, the Sexual Offenses and Domestic Violence Act and the Mental Health Act in order to improve certain aspects of the criminal law.
The prime minister acknowledged that the Bills have not been fully considered by his government, but are ones he hopes both sides can discuss over the traditional summer recess.
Plea Bargaining Bill In House
By Macushla N. Pinder
The government took a key step Wednesday toward eliminating the need for every criminal case to be brought before the courts.
The move is intended to reduce the growing backlog of such matters in The Bahamas.
The Criminal Procedure Bill is designed to introduce plea bargaining into the criminal justice system.
Moving the Bill in the House of Assembly Wednesday, Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham acknowledged that at the moment, almost "every killing" in The Bahamas is a murder irrespective of its intent.
To date, The Bahamas has recorded 33 murders for 2008.
"There are few charges of manslaughter ever brought and sometimes others have discovered that when offers of manslaughter or a certain level of murder is brought to the table, persons may be inclined to plead guilty and be sentenced rather than tie up a system for years, creating substantial backlogs," Mr. Ingraham said.
"That has not been our history in The Bahamas of plea bargaining at all. So we would like to consider the introduction of plea bargaining."
Under the Bill, plea discussions would take place between the accused person and a prosecutor or between the attorney for an accused person and a prosecutor.
According to the Bill, this would take place either before the arraignment of the accused person or "at any time" after the trial begins with the view towards arriving at an agreement.
This particular course of action includes a recommendation to the court to dismiss other charges or for a particular sentence; an agreement not to oppose a request by the accused person or his/her attorney for a particular sentence and an agreement that a specific sentence is appropriate for the disposition of the case.
The government is also hoping to review and discuss a number of matters relating to the Criminal Procedure Code.
TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS BILL
With that in mind, Mr. Ingraham moved a Bill relating to the trafficking of persons through The Bahamas, which he admitted now occurs more frequently than it did in the past when it was primarily related to drugs.
Under the Trafficking in Persons Bill, a person would commit the offense of trafficking in persons for the purpose of exploitation if he or she recruits, transports, transfers, harbours or receives another person from another country into The Bahamas.
Whoever engages, conspires or attempts to engage in or facilitates in trafficking persons will be sentenced to not less than three years or more than five years’ imprisonment. They could also be subject to the forfeiture of property or be ordered to pay full restitution, according to the proposed legislation
Based on a recent report on 170 countries, which evaluates the extent of the human trafficking problem around the world, the United States Government continued to worry that The Bahamas may be a destination and transit point for trafficked persons who are forced into labour and commercial sexual exploitation.
In fact, the U.S. Department of State, which compiled the report, cited The Bahamas as a special case with officials reporting that limited data suggests a possible labour trafficking problem here.
This is the third consecutive year The Bahamas has been deemed a special case due to the large numbers of undocumented migrants in the country, which raises concerns that there may be a significant number of trafficking victims in need of assistance.
Unofficial conservative estimates are that there are between 30,000 and 60,000 undocumented Haitians in The Bahamas.
If all goes as planned, the government is also hoping to debate and pass an amendment to the Criminal Law Miscellaneous Act.
The Bill seeks to amend the Penal Code, the Criminal Procedure Code Act, the Sexual Offenses and Domestic Violence Act and the Mental Health Act in order to improve certain aspects of the criminal law.
The prime minister acknowledged that the Bills have not been fully considered by his government, but are ones he hopes both sides can discuss over the traditional summer recess.