The Cabinet examined three pieces of legislation dealing with gangs and youth that will come before the Parliament next week.
They will include: i. the Anti-Gang Bill; ii. The Child Justice (Amendment) Bill; and, iii. the Misuse of Drugs Amendment Bill.
The new and amended laws are intended to address the spate of criminal activity by youth, recently recorded.
Considerable attention is paid to the likely impact of increased minimum sentences, although the Cabinet conceded that depriving magistrates and judges (who adjudicate criminal matters) of the discretion which they now possess, may not be constitutional.
Nevertheless, though the minimal custodial sentence for gun crimes appears to be two years, the Cabinet agreed on a minimum of five years for gun crimes and left the discretion to magistrates and judges to determine the length of incarceration.
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As the discretion of judges???= more of the same over and over.
If Cabinet already sees that this is unconstitutional then why even bother? Are they hoping that convicts will not have the resources to challenge this legislation?
Nothing is wrong with amending legislation but it should be done the right way to ensure that a sentence once passed isn’t deemed unconstitutional and overturned as a result. Why not increase the maximum sentences? This would assist to accomplish the goal of increasing sentences without offending the constitution.
Additionally convicted persons are eligible for remission of a part of their sentence if they display good conduct while in prison (See the Prisons Act s15). This is egregious when you consider the fact that the court also has the power to discount their sentences by one third if they plead guilty. Also a sentence of 1 year imprisonment should mean that a convict serves 12 calendar months in prison, as it stands a prison year is the equivalent of 8 calendar months. These are the reasons why some of these convicts are back on the streets in no time. These are known issues which the government can quickly address.
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