The House of Assembly on Friday unanimously approved a Bill seeking to amend section 30 of the Firearms Ordinance to clarify the law around judicial discretion in sentencing persons convicted of firearms offences where exceptional circumstances are found.
Recently the Turks and Caicos Islands came in for a great deal of flacking from United States congressional leaders after tourists were caught departing with bullets in their luggage. Some of those tourists are still before the local court.
Section 3(3) of the Firearms Ordinance requires the Supreme Court to impose a mandatory minimum sentence and a fine for certain firearms offences. However, where a court finds that there are exceptional circumstances, under section 30 of the Ordinance, the court has discretion to impose a lesser sentence than the mandatory minimum. But, prior to Friday’s amendment, the court was required to impose both a sentence of imprisonment and a fine which are proportionality consistent with the exceptional circumstances.
The Firearms (Amendment) Bill 2024 clarified that the Supreme Court has the widest possible breadth of discretion and although the Court must ensure that the punishment of a person convicted is in keeping with the dominant purpose of Parliament, deterrence, the Court is empowered to exercise its discretion to either impose a fine, or a custodial sentence or both a fine and a custodial sentence proportionately consistent with the exceptional circumstances of the case before the Court.
Attorney General, Hon. Rhondalee Braithwaite Knowles OBE KC, who piloted the Bill through the House, informed members that the Bill was the result of a considered review of regional legislation, especially in other Overseas Territories, as well as consultation with the Judiciary, the Bar Council, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and senior criminal defence counsel who all agreed that the clarification should be made.
She further indicated that the amendment would address marginal cases of exceptional circumstances for both residents and visitors alike, where the Court was best placed to determine the appropriate penalty.
The Attorney General informed the House of Assembly that in an AG’s Reference of Questions earlier this year, the Court of Appeal had traced the change in law back to 2010, when the mandatory minimum sentence was first introduced and that the legislation was kept under review, and amended several times since then, including in 2022, when the mandatory minimum was raised for possession and use of firearms with the stated intention of deterring such crimes in the Islands.
The decision handed down by the Court of Appeal in February assisted in clarifying the law, certifying that where exceptional circumstances exist the court has no jurisdiction to impose a non-custodial sentence. That finding led to a further review and has resulted in today’s amendment to broaden judicial discretion on a finding of exceptional circumstances.