Prime Minister Gaston Browne Tuesday said that he is ‘seeking public advice’ regarding the removal of ‘under-performing members of the Judiciary from the jurisdiction’.
In a statement posted on his Facebook page, Browne said the Parliament has increased the maximum sentence to 15 years for gun crime in Antigua and Barbuda.
‘We were advised by members of the judiciary that no minimum sentencing should be legislated, which will fetter discretion and would constitute a trespass on the domain of the judiciary,’ Browne wrote.
‘However, we find that some in the judiciary are abusing the discretion in law, by imposing lenient sentences on repeat offenders and others who have committed heinous crimes. ‘
Browne said that these short sentences have now resulted in approximately 250 repeat offenders, who are stretching law enforcement capabilities and putting the entire society at risk.
‘The Executive has the authority to ask for the removal of these under-performing members of the Judiciary from the jurisdiction,’ he said, asking ‘alternatively, if the court refuses to remove them from the jurisdiction and they are non-belongers – should the Executive exercise its right to remove them from the state in the interest of national security and protection of the citizenry from these criminals ?
‘Seeking public advice,’ Browne wrote.
Prime Minister Browne latest statement follows Monday’s meeting of security officials here which he chaired in which he called for greater cooperation between the judiciary, parliament and the executive in addressing the recent increase in crime and violence, while emphasizing the need for sentences that are proportionate to the seriousness of criminal offences.
Prime Minister Browne told the meeting that he is particularly concerned that repeat offenders and persons convicted of gun-related crimes were receiving sentences which, in his view, did not adequately reflect the seriousness of their offences.
While he acknowledged the constitutional separation of powers among the Judiciary, Executive and Parliament, Browne said there must nevertheless be a degree of cooperation among the three branches in fulfilling their respective responsibilities for the governance and security of the country.
‘We are asking for your cooperation. We are demanding it in order to keep our country safe,’ he told the meeting even as reiterated that his comments were not intended to undermine the independence of the Judiciary.
In March this year, Prime Minister Browne called on Caribbean courts to comply with legislation approved by parliaments that increases fines and jail terms for persons involved in gun-related crimes.
‘The magistracy, the judiciary generally, I’m saying here, step up. Otherwise, you’re going to destroy these countries inadvertently by showing that you’re all-powerful and you’re independent.
‘That is not the type of, let’s say, governance ethos that we wish to see within the judiciary. We know you’re independent, but God damn it, man. We say increase the fines, increase the penalties, increase the custodial sentences of people involved in gun crimes,’ Browne said as police investigated the murders of 17-year-old Omari Lewis and his 18-year-old friend, Brianna Clark, in what residents had described as an execution-style shooting, believed to be carried out from a moving vehicle.