Lawmakers will on December 16 consider the merits of a new bill which makes meeting bail conditions harder for certain levels of serious offenders. Minister of Justice and National Security, Rayburn Blackmoore, revealed that the ultimate objective of the bill is to prevent the commision of newer crimes and protect the society from serial offenders.
Under the new bill, crimes such as murder, treason, terrorism, drug offences, illegal use of firearms, rape against minors, and kidnapping among other serious offences.
According to Blackmoore, the new bill will not deny bail to deserving offenders, but it will make the conditions for bail harder to meet by dangerous offenders. He said the legislation will not deny offenders their fundamental human rights, but it will make it mandatory for judges to balance the discretion for granting bail against the freedoms and safety of the general public.
While the bill will ensure that offenders remain at liberty until convicted by the courts, it will also serve to prevent a situation where suspects jump bail, commit other offences, or interfere with witnesses and evidences. It will contain the conditions for accessing bail and empower judges with the legal tools to track offenders who are considered flight risks or able to breach bail conditions as well as impose heavier sanctions in such instances.
There is no issue of the rights of the individual to remain at liberty until he is convicted of a crime, sufficiently serious to justify depriving him of his liberty. But the community has a countervailing interest in seeking to ensure that the cost of justice is in no way undermined by the flight of the suspect or perverted by his interference with witnesses or evidence and that he or she does not take advantage while on bail, to further commit offences.
Rayburn Blackmoore, Minister of Justice and National Security
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