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Why not just abolish the murder charge so that society can decay faster?

Feb 03, 2013 Letters

Dear Editor,
Much has happened recently in Guyana in so far as the administration of justice is concerned. While not listing them in chronological order, there were news about death penalties being commuted to life sentences, decades of the Guyana Law Reports being made available in hard copies along with electronic versions, and murder charges being diluted to manslaughter , just to name a few.
These are all important events, but it is the conversion of murder to manslaughter which seems to have attracted the attention of some stake holders.
Indeed! The murder to manslaughter conversion is important enough for it to have formed the basis of the editorial of the Stabroek News of January 24th, 2013. After all, the watering down of murder to manslaughter is nothing new or incorrect, but the alarming frequency with which it is occurring has certainly attracted the attention of many.
Seven years ago, I and Mr. Baldeo Persaud (SN 03-11-2005) highlighted this concern and I in particular asked, “What are the conditions which need to be satisfied before murder is broken down to manslaughter?”
I don’t recall receiving an answer, but the indisputable fact is that the administration of justice continues to be affected by this phenomenon much to the distress and dissatisfaction of many, especially the relatives of those who have been murdered. I may even say that some who are directly involved in the administration of justice are also concerned.
For example, in2008 Chief Justice Chang in a landmark decision, granted bail to a murder accused. (SN 24-05-2008).  All things being equal, murder is classified as an unbailable offence, but Justice Chang held and I dare say proved, that in the particular case, things were far from being equal in the particular case, in that the provisions of Articles 139 and 144 of our constitution were not satisfied.  In essence, the accused had not been afforded a trial within a ‘reasonable time’.
Following Justice Chang‘s lead, Justices  Bovell Drakes and Roxanne-George similarly granted bail to other murder accused two years later (2010).
The common thread which runs through all the murder cases in which bail was granted were definitely woven with protraction, delays  and an abuse of the process as evidenced by the number of preliminary trials conducted at times.
One would have thought that with the advent of Justice Chang’s landmark decision anyone and everyone who had anything to do with the administration of justice, especially in murder cases, would have endeavored to ensure that that all trials were conducted speedily and efficiently. Unfortunately, the nation continues to be haunted by an inordinate rate of substituting manslaughter for murder.
Since the rate of converting murder to manslaughter seems to have reached unprecedented levels, I must continue to ask ‘What are the preconditions for doing so? I must also ask Who stands to benefit the most.  Is it the prosecution, the defense, or the accused?
Whoever they may be, there is little doubt that our justice system in its current state relative to the capital offence is nothing short of an aggravation to the judicial soul. But even if the aggravation is eliminated by treating murder as murder to the very end, another vexatious problem emerges is the non-implementation of the sentence.
Just the other day a couple of death penalties were commuted to life sentences for the very reasons that bail is granted. Why not abolish the murder charge and remove the death penalty from the books so that society can decay at a much faster rate?
Francis Carryl

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