Senate Debates Offenses against a Person Amendment Act 2013

The Offenses against a Person Amendment Act 2013 is now giving powers to the courts to decide a person’s fate based on evidence presented during trial.

The Leader of Government Business, Dr. Errol Cort says the amendments are being made based on a ruling by the Privy Council which states that no longer can a queen’s representative be in charge of a death penalty judgment.

Cort says, as they seek to bring the law into conformity, he is in full support of the death penalty as he believes it will act as a deterrent to would-be criminals within the twin island state.

The amendments also stipulated that persons under the age of 18 cannot be sentenced to death, once the crime was committed while the individual was under 18.

Cort adds that persons no longer have to be executed by hanging. It is left up to the court to determine the time, date and manner of execution of death to be carried out.

Voicing his opinion on the bill, ALP Senator Lennox Weston believes that the discretionary powers favor the upper class society.

Weston says the age limit on when a person should be convicted for life imprisonment should be lowered from 18 years of age.

Also a minimum of 30 years imprisonment can be given to anyone who is convicted of a murder and given a life sentence.