Criminal Justice System Prepares for Cultural Shift with Introduction of New Criminal Procedure Rules

A “complete cultural shift” in the criminal justice system is on the horizon with the introduction of new criminal procedure rules, according to Sir David Simmons, chairman of the Law Reform Commission.

He gave the assurance on Tuesday after a two-day sensitisation workshop held at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre for key figures in the criminal justice system.

“The rules are going to bring in a complete cultural shift,” Sir David told Barbados TODAY. “It is important that we have this discussion to ensure that those who will have to work the rules understand them in the first place.”

The draft rules, prepared by the commission, aim to give the court a more active role in case management, whilst recognising the roles of the Director of Public Prosecutions’ office, the police, and lawyers.

Sir David, who chaired the workshop, emphasised the importance of practical understanding.

“Just reading the rules as they are may appear sterile. So, we had to have an interactive session, where we could discuss real life situations that would apply to the rules so that people could see how the rules will work in practice.”

The workshop, which will be extended by one day later this month, was attended by key figures including Chief Justice Leslie Haynes SC and Deputy Commissioner of Police Erwin Boyce.

Martie Garnes, convenor of the Barbados Bar Association’s Criminal Law Committee described the discussions as “very fruitful”. He praised Sir David’s chairmanship as “particularly stellar”.

“I can see that when these rules are implemented, we would have a criminal justice system that we can all be proud of…from the virtual complainant to the police, to the accused, to the judges, to the defence attorneys, everyone; it would obviously benefit everybody,” Garnes said.

The new rules are expected to address issues such as police custody time limits. Garnes highlighted a recent case where charges were dismissed due to the absence of a file, stating: “We are looking to implement, for example, how long the police can keep you in custody, because of as recent, we would have seen that someone would have had their matter dismissed because of the absence of a file. So, when these rules are implemented, hopefully sooner rather than later, those things will become a thing of the past.”

He echoed Sir David’s comments about a follow-up session later this month, noting that the organisers were not able to cover everything on Tuesday.