The headline “Justice system in disarray – residents” recently appeared in one of the online newspapers. In summary, the article reported that some residents — mainly senior students at the high school and juniors at the college — are confused with the disparity in sentences imposed by the three magistrates.
The newspaper referred to three cases disposed of by three different magistrates who hail from three different jurisdictions. Dr. Velon John is a St. Lucian by birth, and before he was appointed magistrate he was a politician in his native country. Ayana Baptiste-DaBreo is a Vincentian, and Tamia Richards, the senior magistrate, is from the Virgin Islands. However, the nationality of these magistrates is not important, but what is baffling members of the public, especially young people, is the vast differences between the sentences they imposed.
Ms. Baptiste-DaBreo took the harsh line in jailing a 33-year-old to 15 months after he was found guilty of being in possession of a firearm. Critics say that it was an old gun and no bullet was found in the defendant’s possession. But Dr. John merely slapped the wrists of other defendants found guilty of possessing firearms: In two separate cases, he handed down a $2,000 fine and a two-year suspended sentence to each of three men found guilty of possessing a firearm.
Guidelines
I decided to comment because as judges magistrates should follow sentencing guidelines as set out in the Northern Ireland Supreme Court case of Murdock v R. This decision is being followed by most of the high court and appeals court judges in the Eastern Caribbean and in many other jurisdictions in the region.
It seems to me that some judicial officers are more lenient than others. Moreover, the director of public prosecutions apparently is not too happy with Dr. John’s decisions and has appealed several matters. In one of them, Dr. John granted “signed” bail to four men who were accused of drug related matters.
It might be a good idea for the chief justice to issue a direction to the magistrates setting out the guidelines in sentencing in order to avoid criticism from members of the public, and more importantly to have uniformity in sentencing practices.
Last month a young magistrate in St. Vincent and the Grenadines imposed a $10,000 fine on a former registrar of the Supreme Court for stealing more than $20,000. The sentence was criticised by a large number of people, including the opposition leader. They wanted her to be imprisoned. However, I wrote a commentary agreeing with the magistrate, pointing out that the young lawyer would be disbarred from practising, which by itself is a serious punishment.
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