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BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, Jun 10, CMC -The Barbados government is moving towards establishing dedicated gun courts to rapidly try firearm offences and tackle a growing backlog of cases amid rising gun violence.
Minister of Legal Affairs and Criminal Justice, Michael Lashley Tuesday moved the amendment to the Supreme Court of Judicature Act that would authorise the creation of a dedicated Firearms Division within the High Court and significantly increases the judicial complement to ensure rapid adjudication.
The government said that the two distinct “gun courts” would be formed to address different pressure points within the criminal justice system. One court will focus exclusively on handling new cases filed since January of this year, whilst the second dual-functioning tribunal will be tasked with clearing the backlog of older firearm offences.
“This is a historic amendment from the point of view that we are establishing a firearms division of the High Court, but also we are increasing the number of judges,” Lashley said.
“This is the first time that we have seen a firearms division of the High Court. As you know, the divisions that exist before, we have [the] civil division, the criminal division sir that deals with all criminal matters. We have a commercial division, a family division and now we have a firearms division.”
The proposed legislation will give the newly formed Firearms Division the authority to compel magistrates to forward gun-related cases directly. Because firearm offences are indictable, magistrates lack the jurisdiction to try these cases and can only commit them upwards.
Government planners anticipate that the new case management regulations will drastically shorten the time an accused individual spends waiting for trial.
The legislative comes as Barbados tackles an increase in gun-related violence with Lashley in offering a justification for the policy shift, pointed to recent crime statistics regarding extreme violence:
“Out of the 27 murders that we’ve had for the year, the use of firearms was used in 23 of those murders, and that is also a cause for concern,” he told legislators, as he addressed the potential public scepticism as to whether the state has files prepared to keep the new infrastructure active.
Prime Minister Mia Mottley in defending the Supreme Court of Judicature (Amendment) Bill said a dedicated gun court will fast-track firearm cases within weeks and enforce a zero-tolerance approach.
She said that the new legislation will ensure swift and decisive action against gun-related offences.
“There is no greater scourge on this land than the prevalence and presence and use of guns,” she said, adding that the legislation, brought through the former attorney general, is part of the government’s effort to modernise the criminal justice system.
“We have determined that it is still necessary to establish a dedicated gun court,” she told legislators, adding that the fight against gun violence must involve the entire society rather than being left solely to law enforcement agencies.
“I asked that we as a nation bind ourselves together, bond together and take the issue of fighting guns, removing guns from our environment as a whole of nation exercise rather than the province of one or two sectors of this society. Justice when delivered quickly is the best form of crime prevention,” she added.
Lashley said that an intensive collaboration between an independent legal consultant and police prosecutors has already yielded significant dividends.
By the end of January, 672 files had been submitted to prosecutors, effectively clearing 21 per cent of the case backlog accumulated between 2022 and 2024 and Lashley confirmed that multiple cases from the first four months of the year are already fully prepared for trial, with evidentiary disclosures completed for both the prosecution and the defence.
“We are not establishing a gun court for it to sit down there and don’t have any production. The cases are ready. We have all these cases ready to feed the gun court as soon as established, sir, to feed it, because it can’t be a court sitting down idle. It cannot be.”
Lashley said that individuals charged with simple possession of firearms or ammunition should not be permitted to walk the streets on bail for years without facing accountability, noting also that because firearm possession cases rely almost exclusively on professional police witnesses rather than easily intimidated civilians, trials can realistically be concluded within a three-to-four-month window.
“Speedy trials ensure that dangerous offenders are off the streets. Delay is the nail of justice, and so this gun court — I say gun courts but it’s really a division of the High Court but I think we would determine as a gun court — will ensure the sentencing move as fast as possible too.”
To operationalise the new divisions, the government has approved a staffing structure of two High Court justices, two legal assistants, four magistrates, two probation officers, two principal prosecutors, two senior prosecutors, and two secretaries.
The Barbados “gun Courts” will nt be modeled along the lines of the Jamaican Gun Court that was established under the Gun Court Act of 1974, which removed the option of jury trials. The model here preserves constitutional protections or giving defendants the right to opt for a traditional trial by jury or choose a judge-alone trial.
The state also intends to leverage protective mechanisms found within current criminal proceedings legislation to shield vulnerable individuals, including testimony via live video link, private hearings, and prerecorded cross examinations.
“Witnesses in gun crime might not want or might feel intimidated in giving evidence, and that special measures are there in the law to assist them,” Lashley said, adding these protections are equally available to the defence if a witness is fearful of testifying publicly.
He told legislators that whilst public safety remains paramount, the judicial system must balance strict enforcement with rehabilitation, particularly given the youthful demographic of many first-time offenders.
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