Draconian but necessary bills - Malahoo-Forte says extraordinary measures needed

RESIDENT Magistrate-turned-legislator Marlene Malahoo-Forte has acknowledged that the Interim Bail Act to provide for a 60-day detention of persons who commit serious gun and drug-related offences is draconian.

But Malahoo-Forte, a government senator, has argued strongly that legislating this approach to bail is worth experimenting with at this time.

Her comments came yesterday in the Senate where the six anti-crime bills were passed, but not before three of the measures were put to a vote as Opposition members objected to provisions in the proposed statutes.

The three bills voted on were An Act to Amend the Bail Act, the Bail Interim Specified Provisions Act and An Act to Amend the Offences Against the Person Act.

The other three crime bills were passed in the absence of opposition members who arrived late. They include the Parole Amendment Act, The Constabulary Force (Interim Provisions for Arrest and Detention) Act, 2010 and The Firearms (Amendment) Act, 2008.

Tackling crime

Senator Malahoo-Forte said that in terms of legislation, something more than the ordinary was needed to tackle the monster of crime plaguing the country.

"Given what we know on the ground, it is worth experimenting with to see whether or not it would assist us in the necessary fight against crime and violence," she said.

"I cannot in all good conscience stand up and say it is not a difficult policy position, it is. If we become afraid to step out beyond the ordinary into the extraordinary to do what needs to be done to deal with the problems, we may never achieve any success in solving the problem of crime," she emphasised.

Two senior opposition senators disagreed with Malahoo-Forte's position as they warned that provisions in some of the proposed laws were unconstitutional.

A.J. Nicholson contended that the interim bail act, which provides for a 60-day detention period encroached on constitutional rights. He also raised similar concerns about An Act to Amend the Bail Act.

"The bills shift the burden of substantiating bail to the accused person which is inconsistent with the presumption of innocence," he said.

Knight rejected bill

His colleague, K.D. Knight, rejected the interim bail act saying the 60-day period should be removed.

"Whilst I can see an onus being placed on the defendant, I cannot understand why there is this distrust in the judiciary," he said.

Knight asserted that there were no compelling statistics that would cause him to conclude that judges and magistrates had not "applied their minds to the granting of bail".

In her contribution to the debate, Leader of Government Business Dorothy Lightbourne castigated the Opposition for changing its position on the crime bills after first accepting the proposed statutes during the bipartisan Vale Royal talks.

She dismissed suggestions that provisions in the bills were in breach of the constitution.

The Opposition has maintained that it agreed in principle to tough anti-crime measures but said the specifics of the bills were not discussed.