Persons charged with murder will be denied bail - Malahoo Forte

Persons charged with murder will be denied bail under a new law that the government will propose soon, setting up a certain battle with human rights advocates. 

Minister of Legal and Constitutional Affairs Marlene Malahoo Forte told the House of Representatives this afternoon that the change will be in a new bail act that has been long promised.  

She also indicated that persons who have been charged with illegal possession of a firearm would not get bail. 

“If yuh on murder charge you cannot be at large and if yuh on gun charge yuh cannot be at large," she said during her contribution to the Sectoral Debate.

She said the wording of some of the clauses of bill is being revised. 

Under the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms in the Constitution, any person awaiting trial and detained in custody "shall be entitled to bail on reasonable conditions unless sufficient cause is shown for keeping him in custody". 

The change would satisfy members of the security forces who have complained about the role of accused criminals on bail being key perpetrators of crimes. 

Earlier this year, Deputy Commissioner of Police Fitz Bailey, said changes were needed. 

“The legislative process should be so framed that persons charged for certain kinds of crimes should remain in custody while awaiting trial. The system of trial should be swift to ensure an accused rights are protected," he said. 

But the proposal is likely to raise concerns for criminal defence attorneys, many of whom have spoken out against the government's hardening legal stance on criminals and persons accused of serious crimes. 

Attorney Linton Gordon is of the view that all persons arrested and charged for crimes are entitled to bail.

“All citizens arrested and charged for crimes are presumed innocent until a court finds them guilty. To keep a person in custody while awaiting trial would be short-circuiting the justice system,” Gordon said in April. 

Jamaica has one of the highest murder rates in the world, with over 40 per 100,000 of the population killed yearly. 

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