Sentencing Commission today

SEAN DOUGLAS

IN one of his last acts of office President Anthony Carmona will at 4 pm today at President’s House name the chairman and members of the Sentencing Commission, a body that will monitor the sentences passed by local criminal courts and suggest guidelines and a penalty range for each offence.

These powers are set out in the Sentencing Commission Act 2000 passed under former attorney general Ramesh Maharaj, and reiterated in a proposed successor 2003 Bill/Act.

Both versions of the Act refuted the idea of any violation of the principle of the separation of powers (by the Legislature impinging on the Judiciary), by saying, “Nothing in this section limits any discretion that a court may have in determining sentence.” Newsday spoke to a prominent legal source who said that since 2000, no Sentencing Commission has ever sat.

The source denied this body would be a breach of the separation of powers, and welcomed its being.

“It is the legislators who set the maximum sentence, and the judge in his discretion determines what is proper.” The source gave further proof of the sentencing power of judges by recalling the case of Barry Francis vs the State where legislators had imposed a hefty minimum sentence for drug-trafficking (of about 25 years) but which was then struck down as unconstitutional by a five-member Court of Appeal ruling.

The source welcomed the idea of the Sentencing Commission carrying out its role of doing reviews of sentences and doing surveys of public opinion, on issues such as marijuana legalisation.

The commission will present its findings on a topic in a report to legislators. Parliament can then decide if to take up any such issues and whether the current sentences are too harsh or lenient, the source said.