Public disquiet remains high over what has been described as “draconian” firearms legislation which has seen entire families sent to prison on remand, pending a bail trial in the Supreme Court, and latest indications from the Government of Belize are that the promised revisions are nowhere in sight – this 5 months after National Security Minister John Saldivar pledged a review to make the laws “more fair.”
A new motion to be proposed by the Opposition People’s United Party, which has raised major objection against the gun laws in Parliament, may help the Government ease the “terrible bottleneck,” which Prime Minister Dean Barrow told us today has been evident at the Attorney General’s ministry, due to the departure of key legal draftspersons.
The Opposition has said that it wants to table draft legislation which would include provisions to put back discretion in the hands of magistrates, who are now required to order the remand of persons charged for firearm offenses.
When the Opposition raised the issue in Parliament this February, the ruling party pledged to move ahead with revising the existing laws; however, five months have now passed and there is still no draft bill in sight.
Today, we asked Prime Minister Barrow, who is also the head of the National Security Council, to indicate to us how soon we can see something tangible, and he told us that he is really not sure where the Attorney General’s Ministry is, in terms of its progress with the promised revision.
According to Barrow, there has been a dearth of staffers at the Solicitor General’s Department. One of the key draftspersons, Michelle Daley, left last November, and since then, Crown Counsel Nigel Hawke has been holding over as Acting Solicitor General.
Barrow said that the departure of the draftspersons has “left this tremendous and intolerable delay…”
He undertook to find out about the status of the legislation review and get back to us.
Meanwhile, Barrow confirmed the installation of a new Solicitor General, Anika Nkechi Jackson, who assumes duty on Friday, August 1.
Jackson was chosen after a committee headed by Chief Justice Kenneth Benjamin interviewed four shortlisted applicants, none of which were Belizean. Amandala understands that only one Belizean was among the pool of applicants for the post.
Barrow also said that a legal draftsperson from the Cayman Islands would also be engaged to assist with the backlog at the Attorney General’s Ministry.