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Bail Act on the cards for repeat offenders

Dec 20, 2011 News

 

Newly appointed Attorney General, Anil Nandlall, says that one has to first determine who is a repeat offender before one can comment on the matter. He said that under Guyana’s criminal justice system a repeat offender is someone who has been convicted for a particular type of offence and is charged again for a similar offence.
He said that the constitution embraces the doctrine of “presumption of innocence” until proven guilty. Nandlall explained that a person only becomes an offender under the criminal justice system when he is convicted of the offence for which he is charged.
The court that is dealing with the matter for the second time can treat that person as a repeat offender.
Notwithstanding, Nandlall said that there is certain legislation in the pipeline to help tackle this problem. The new AG said that there are a few law reforms that Guyana can look forward to in the near future. Currently, he said that there is a “Bail Act” in the pipeline.
He said that the question of repeat offenders arises when the issue of bail is being considered. The new AG admitted that currently there is no Bail Act in Guyana, something that he is now working to achieve. He said that this feature is currently available in other Caribbean countries.
In Guyana, Nandlall says that when a court considers the question of bail, it takes into consideration certain common law principles. These include the seriousness or gravity of the offence, the likelihood of the defendant returning to court, the defendant interfering with witnesses, the likelihood of the defendant committing serious offences, the frequency of the type of  offence that is committed and the criminal record of the person charged.
He said that a magistrate or judge is enjoined by those principles to consider when and if bail is to be granted. Because of the controversy which has invariable erupted when the question of bail is considered by courts, some countries have seen it fit to implement legislation.
Nandlall said that this act is similar to the bail legislation in other counties and it would try to capture these same common-law principles mentioned.  He said that it would also try to bring some type of uniformity in the way courts apply them.
The AG admitted that there have been inconsistent approaches by different courts in relation to bail. This inconsistency, he says, is not healthy for the system.  “We need to have a uniform manner in the exercise of discretionary power in relation to bail,” Nandlall stated.
He further explained that the Bail Act is intended to bring that type of uniformity in relation to the granting and refusing of bail. He said that one has to take into account the provisions in the rehabilitation of Offenders Act. The Bail Act would try to bring consistency to the judicial approach towards the question of bail.
He explained that the policy behind this is that the fact that the person who has been convicted of an offence and has served the sentence imposed by a court of law should not disable him. Nandlall said that this piece of legislation seeks to stop any form of discrimination against the person and also seeks to reintegrate him back into society.

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