Lawyers demand reform of the Firearms Act

The Advocates Association and the Jamaica Bar Association are pushing for a reform to the Firearms Act to avoid accused persons becoming victims of injustice.

Both entities are joining forces to stage a silent protest in the vicinity of the Supreme Court come tomorrow. 

President of the Advocates Association Tamika Harris, speaking Monday on Radio Jamaica’s Beyond the Headlines, said the protest is aimed at adding weight to the letters sent requesting a review of the legislation.

The protest will take the form of a silent march, she explained, stressing that “It's peaceful; it’s not going to be noisy. It's just a, it's just to show that we have united and we are fully aware of the issues.”

She reaffirmed that the two groups of lawyers are not being irresponsible in their advocacy, asserting that “we are strong on harsh laws for persons who deserve it; we are not weak or soft on gunmen. We are asking for the legislators to think about all the possibilities that there are not cases, that, that not, not all cases deserve the minimum sentence of 15 years.”

Mitigating factors

Miss Harris added that the law does not currently take into consideration any mitigating factors a judge would consider.

 “The judge will normally take into consideration, for example, the age of the offender, whether this is the first time this offender has committed this act, and other circumstances that will help them to determine the culpability or the likelihood of rehabilitation, whether this person is likely to be rehabilitated or whether this person is a person who there is no chance of rehabilitation and therefore we must put them in jail for 15 years or more.”

The problem, therefore, she reiterated, is that “the legislation does not allow a judge to exercise any form of discretion, and what we are saying is that that cannot be real justice; that if, when a court is sentencing someone, they must pay attention to the offender as well as to the offense.”

Backlog

President of the Jamaica Bar Association Tenneshia Watkins, also speaking on Beyond the Headlines, added that the new firearms Act has resulted in the Gun Court being choked with cases, creating a new backlog.

“The gun court was one of the most effective… efficient court, and it did not have a serious backlog to speak about. But since the legislation, persons who normally would have pleaded guilty have opted not to because there's no real incentive to do that.”