From left: Superintendent of HMP Dodds Lt. Col John Nurse; Anglican Bishop of Barbados and Archbishop of the West Indies, Dr. John Holder; Chief Justice Sir Marston Gibbs; and Attorney General Adriel Brathwaite as they greeted one another at yesterday’s opening.

Remand issues

Tue, 06/07/2016 - 12:00am

Attorney General identifies weaknesses and challenges in justice system

Over a third of the inmates at Her Majesty’s Prisons Dodds are there on remand.

Revealing that between 35 to 40 per cent of the present population fell into this category, Attorney General Adriel Brathwaite expressed serious concern on the situation, pointing out that due to a weakness in the system these individuals were not getting the aid that they needed.

“The challenge with the individuals on remand is that they are not prisoners and therefore are not exposed to the type of programmes and treatment that even if we identify is required, is more on a voluntary as opposed to a mandatory basis and worse of all is that you do not know if your charge is going to be with you for a week, for a month, or for a year, so it becomes even more difficult to put programmes in place to address these individuals,” he argued.

Delivering the feature address at yesterday’s opening ceremony at the 10th Annual Association of Caribbean Heads of Corrections and Prison Services Conference at Hilton Barbados, Brathwaite used the example of an individual with psychiatric challenges being charged with a crime, put on remand and being released on bail back into society with the same challenges.

“That gives you an idea in terms of what I consider is a serious weakness and challenge to the system, because we need to find them some mechanism to get them the support that is required,” he pointed out.

Terming it as “unacceptable” that some islands were experiencing a rate of recidivism as high as 65 per cent, the AG insisted that the matter be one of the talking points at the conference.

“What I need us to do as a society is to take a hard look at how we can reduce the rate of recidivism, which I am told, ranges anywhere between 25-65 per cent in some territories. It is a revolving door and is unacceptable,” he emphasised.

The Minister of Home Affairs suggested that the public, especially potential employers, work with the system to give these individuals a chance to reintegrate.

“I do not believe that everyone can be saved, but I do believe that we have a responsibility to save as many people as possible, and to give them the chances that would enable them to be good men and women of our society,” Brathwaite added. (JMB)

Remand issues

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