ST. JOHN’S, Antigua, Sept 24, CMC – Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne is maintaining his criticism of what he has described as the emerging lenient sentencing orthodoxy of Caribbean judiciary.
“We respect the human and constitutional rights of all and the independence of the judiciary. However, the constitutional rights of criminals cannot take precedence over the safety of the citizenry,” Browne said, warning that the “emerging lenient sentencing orthodoxy of Caribbean Judiciary is undermining public safety.
“This abuse of sentencing discretion characterized by pervasive lenient sentencing has resulted in an explosion of repeat offenders, who are enabled with short sentences to continue their criminality,” Browne said in a statement posted on his Facebook page.
“The prevalence of these repeat offenders is overwhelming law enforcement and making the region unsafe,” Browne said on the same day that lawyers, including the President of the Jamaica Bar Association, Tenneshia Watkins, staged a silent protest outside the Supreme Court in Kingston in support of their calls for a review of the mandatory sentencing provisions of the Firearms (Prohibition, Restriction and Regulation) Act, 2022.
The lawyers armed with placards, some of which read “Tough on guns: yes. Tough on children: no.” say they are concerned with the mandatory minimum sentencing provisions, particularly the restriction they place on judicial discretion.
Under the 2022 legislation, certain firearms offences attract mandatory minimum sentences of 15 years, but the lawyers argue that the sentencing regime does not adequately allow judges to distinguish between offenders and the individual circumstances surrounding cases.
The protest was held under the banner, ‘Enough Is Enough – Silent Protest: A Fairer Firearms Act for a Safer Jamaica’.
In his Facebook post, Prime Minister Browne said that in a number of instances, criminals who are found with illegal firearms and ammunitions are given one or two years in prison, only to be released to commit other heinous crimes.
“Our children as young as two years old, are being sexually violated by pedophiles who have been given two to three years in prison,” he said, adding that “Parliaments are now forced to curb this lenient sentencing orthodoxy that some are seeking to institutionalize, by legislating minimum sentencing.
“The prevalence of crime and violence in the region, makes the Caribbean increasingly one of the most violent regions in the world. We are living in a drastic period, requiring drastic measures.
“Lawyers and judges though important to governance, no not have the ultimate responsibility for public safety. The parliament and the executive are ultimately responsible. The means justify the end,” Browne added.
Meanwhile, Jamaica’s Justice Minister Delroy Chuck has expressed disappointment at the protest action even as he held out hope for a satisfactory outcome of a meeting later on Thursday to end plans by the attorneys to abandon the courts all of next week if their demands are not met.
Chuck said he had already indicated to the lawyers and other stakeholders that the matter was under consideration and that he is prepared to meet on the issue.
But he notted that the “government is very concerned about the prevalence of gun crimes and the need to protect law-abiding citizens of this country but remains open to dialogue on the Firearms Act 2022”.
CMC/al/ir/2026