A bill granting additional powers to Police and limiting the rights of criminals to bail is to be read a third time in the House of Assembly.

The Bail Amendment Act 2010 was debated in the House of Assembly on Friday which proposed amendments to the Bail Act 2005. MPs on all sides supported the bill but agreed that the current wording may be too restrictive.

Currently under the Bail Act 2005 bail may be granted to a person who is accused, convicted or has a warrant issued for a particular offence. The act presumes that a person accused of an offence has the right to bail with the exception of crimes such as murder.

On Friday MPs debated several amendments to the Bail Act 2005 including exceptions to the right to bail. The proposed amendment stated that a defendant need not be granted bail if the offence is an offence which falls under the Firearms Act 1973 or if it is a serious arrestable offence as defined under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 2006 which involves the use of a firearm or ammunition.

Another proposed amendment was designed to address challenges faced by the Bermuda Police Service in regard to Police bail. Under the current act Police have no authority to impose conditions on a person arrested and subsequently released on Police bail. This is different than bail granted by a magistrate who has the power to impose conditions such as the surrender of travel documents.

Junior Minister of Justice Michael Scott briefed the House on the amendments.

"Currently Police have no power to impose conditions on a person arrested and released on Police bail so as to ensure their future attendance at the Police station," said Mr. Scott. "For example, a person could be arrested for an offence in respect of which the Police have not completed their investigation and, therefore, have insufficient evidence to lay charges. In such cases, the police must release and bail the person with the hope that they will return to the station as directed."

Mr. Scott went on to say when a person fails to appear as directed, valuable Police resources are expanded and stretched to locate the person. He said Police resources would be better utilised if they were given the power to issue conditions which would ensure a person's attendance to the Police station – similar to powers held by the courts.

With the proposed amendments a Police officer holding the rank of inspector or higher may impose bail conditions including requirements to report to the Police station, abide by curfews, reside at a specific address, refrain from contact with certain persons and stay away from certain areas and properties. Also the officer may ban the person from driving or leaving the country as well as the surrendering of travel documents and, if the person is charged with an offence under the Firearms Act 1973, be fitted with an electronic monitor device.

"The Bill makes reference to offences under the Firearms act 1973 and, therefore, reflects the increased concern of both members of the public and the Bermuda Police Service with regard to the increase of firearms related offences," said Mr. Scott. "It is important to note that extensive consultation has occurred between the Bermuda Police Service and the Ministry of Justice in the Policy formulation of these amendments."

Mr. Scott added: "There has been continued public distress regarding the ongoing commission of violent crime. However, the Government remains committed to the implementation of considered statutory measures to address these challenges as is evidenced by the provisions of the Bail Amendment Bill 2010."

PLP MP Ashfield DeVent urged Bermuda to have trust in the Judicial system.

"This is the type of legislation that we have to pass," said Mr. Devent. "We are dealing with crime and behaviour the likes of which we have never dealt with before so we may need to take a new approach. This is just another tool in the fight against crime."

UBP MP Trevor Moniz said that the amendments did go far enough.

"We applaud the bringing of this bill to the House, but from my point of view there are some issues here that are really repeats of the Firearms act," he said. "With respect to the amendment proposed regarding the electronic monitoring bracelet it is my respectful view that it is needlessly limited to offences under the firearms act 1973.

" It goes on to say that you can require someone to wear a monitoring device in relation to a serious arrestable offence but then they restrict to an offence involving a firearm or ammunition. I myself do not see the reason to limit it in that way.

"If it a serious offence that justifies the use of a monitoring device, I don't see the need to restrict it. Which is more dangerous, to have someone out on bail who is charged with murder or someone who is charged with attempted murder? They might go and try and finish what they started – I would like to see it at least expanded from murder to attempted murder. It should be extended to serious offences period – not restricted to firearms. Otherwise, we on this side support the measure in principal."

BDA MP Shawn Crockwell said his party supports the act but agrees that its current wording is too restrictive.

"We also support this act, said Mr. Crockwell. "We also have similar concerns in reference to the distinction in dealing with the conditions of bail in reference to a serious arrestable offence.

"We feel it is too restrictive in regards to just applying to the use of firearms and ammunition. We certainly believe that it is important to address the issue of rising crime in Bermuda and we realise that it is the issue of gun crime that is a major issue and understand this Government's intent to arrest that particular criminal activity.

"We think that the act should remain more broad because there are other serious offences that are on the rise including sexual offences so we would hope that the Police officer would have the same power to impose those conditions on crimes of that nature. We would prefer that the Officer would have greater flexibility to take a hard line on all serious offences in this country."

l More from the House of Assembly – Page 9