Gun Court
Encyclopedia
The Gun Court is the branch of the Jamaican judicial system that tries criminal cases involving firearm
s. The Court was established by Parliament
in 1974 to combat rising gun violence, and empowered to try suspects in camera
, without a jury
. The Supreme Court
, Circuit Courts, and Resident Magistrate's Courts function as Gun Courts whenever they hear firearms cases. There is also a Western Regional Gun Court in Montego Bay
. Those convicted by the Gun Court are imprisoned in a dedicated prison
compound at South Camp in Kingston
. Until 1999, the Gun Court sessions were also held in the same facility.
The long sentences of the Gun Court and its restrictions on the rights of the accused have given rise to constitutional challenges, some of which have been appealed to the Privy Council
in London. These cases have resulted in some modifications to the court, but have upheld it on the whole. The Gun Court system has also been the target of criticism because of its lengthy delay in hearing cases, and the continuing rise in gun violence since its adoption.
on April 1, 1974.
The new court had several extraordinary features. Most trials were to be conducted in camera
, without a jury and closed to the public and the press, in order to avoid problems of intimidation of witness
es and jurors. There was no provision for bail
, either pre-trial or during appeal, since all defendants were considered dangerous. Most offences carried a single, mandatory sentence: indefinite imprisonment with hard labour. A convicted offender could be released only upon special decision of the Governor-General, advised by an
appointed review board.
, which initially declined to hear the case. However, they were allowed to apply to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council
in London
, which agreed to review the legality of the Gun Court system.
The Constitution of Jamaica
reserves certain serious crimes to the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court and its divisions. The Gun Court Act had established the Full Court division, with Resident Magistrate
s presiding, to try major firearms offences. The Privy Council held that this provision of the Act improperly encroached on the jurisdiction reserved for the Supreme Court, and that the Full Court division was therefore unconstitutional. This fault was remedied in 1976 by replacing the Full Court division with a new High Court division, presided over by a single
Supreme Court justice.
The Privy Council also found that the institution of an appointed review board to determine the length of sentences was contrary to the doctrine of separation of powers
fundamental to the Westminster system
of government. According to this principle, sentencing in each particular case is a function of the judiciary, and cannot be assigned to any other body. The 1976 amendment eliminated the review board entirely, leaving life imprisonment
without review as the only possible sentence.
Another case, Trevor Stone v. the Queen, challenged the denial of jury trial for most gun offences. It was argued that trial by jury is a fundamental and constitutional right guaranteed by tradition in English common law
. The Jamaican Court of Appeals rejected this argument in a decision written by Court President Ira DeCordova Rowe
in 1980. The court noted that the written Constitution adopted by Jamaica upon independence
guaranteed certain rights to criminal defendants, but omitted trial by jury. This case confirmed the Gun Court's power to try all non-capital cases before judges alone.
The case of Herbert Bell v. Director of Public Prosecutions, concerning the right to a speedy trial
, reached the Privy Council in 1983. The defendant had been held awaiting trial for several years, but the state ultimately failed to present any evidence or witnesses. When he was again arrested on the same firearms charges, he filed suit arguing that the Gun Court had violated his constitutional rights through unreasonable delay. The Privy Council agreed, ruling that even when prevailing local standards were taken into account, Bell's trial had been excessively delayed through no fault of his own.
The Gun Court Amendment Act of 1983 allowed Resident Magistrates to grant pre-trial bail, and to decide whether to keep firearms cases in the Resident Magistrate's Court or to send them to the High Court division of the Gun Court. Judges were given the power to set sentences other than life imprisonment. Cases involving defendants under 14 years old were directed to juvenile court
s, instead of being heard by the ordinary Gun Court, and many young convicts serving indefinite sentences were released.
s and procedures. When someone is charged with a firearm violation, whether by unlicensed possession alone or by use of a gun in commission of a crime, the case is ordinarily sent to the High Court Division. These cases are tried in camera by a justice of the Supreme Court of Jamaica
, without a jury. The exceptions are charges of murder
and treason
. As capital offences, these require a jury trial. Charges of murder or treason using firearms are given preliminary investigation by a single Resident Magistrate
in the Resident Magistrate's Division of the Gun Court, in camera. They are then sent to the Gun Court's Circuit Court Division. A Supreme Court justice presides over a jury trial, "exercising the jurisdiction of a Circuit Court." The Circuit Court Division therefore differs from the other divisions of the Gun Court
in practicing jury trial
.
The Gun Court Act originally instituted a Full Court Division, in which cases were to be heard by a panel of three Resident Magistrates. This was replaced by the High Court Division after the Privy Council struck down the Full Court Division in the Hinds case, as judges of the lower levels of the judiciary were not empowered by the Constitution to try serious offences.
, Hanover
, Trelawny
, Saint James
, and Westmoreland
, are heard in the Regional Court.
The Regional Gun Court sits in Montego Bay
, in the court facilities of the St. James Resident Magistrate's Court.
The regional court has been a success, avoiding the chronic backlogs that affect the central Gun Court.
, with both court and prison
facilities. The Gun Court Prison was defended by guard towers and barbed wire
, earning it the nickname of "Jamaica's Stalag 17
," and the walls were painted bright red "to show that it [is] dread."
It held 320 inmates in 1986.
The courtrooms housed the High Court and Resident Magistrate's divisions of the Gun Court until
1999, when they were converted to a "Peace Centre" dedicated to pursuing community mediation
of disputes. The High Court division now sits in the Supreme Court building, and the Resident Magistrate's division sits in the Half Way Tree
Courthouse. The prison itself remains in operation as the South Camp
Adult Correctional Centre,
housing inmates convicted by the Gun Court.
At the time of the 1976 amendments to the Act, the Jamaican Bar Association protested against the lack of jury trials and the harsh mandatory sentences. According to a report in the Virgin Islands Daily News, the Association's Bar Council objected to the possibility that children as young as 12 could be imprisoned for life, without release or appeal, for small offences such as being found with used ammunition.
The abrogation of jury trial has also been criticized by attorney and law professor David Rowe, the son of the Appeals Court justice who wrote the decision in the Stone case upholding the practice. Rowe argues that the common-law right to a jury trial is implied in the Constitutional provision for "a fair hearing within a reasonable time, by an independent and impartial court established by law," concluding that the Constitution had been "shorn of its most potent and ancient safeguard, trial by jury."
The 1993 County Report on Human Rights Practices
in Jamaica from the United States Department of State
noted the denial of a "fair public trial" and alleged that Gun Court trials observe "less rigorous rules of evidence
than in regular court proceedings." The Canadian Bar Association
's Jamaican Justice System Reform Task Force, in its preliminary recommendations, noted that the Gun Court is overloaded, that defendants are not well represented, and Crown attorney
s are often inexperienced. The report recommended that trials no longer be held in camera, and that cases be moved to the ordinary Circuit Court to relieve the overburdened Gun Court. It did not take issue with non-jury trials, suggesting that the same practice might be used in more types of cases for greater efficiency.
Although the Gun Court was intended to expedite cases, bringing defendants to trial within seven days, defendants now often wait several years. The backlog
was nearing 1000 cases in 1998, and in the 2003-2004 court year, the High Court division carried forward 3,367 cases already on the docket, added 613 new cases, and concluded 462.
Senior Resident Magistrate Glenn Brown expressed dissatisfaction with the public prosecutors for taking too long to prepare cases, often because of difficulty in finding and bringing witnesses. Brown noted that "Seventy per cent of the persons who are before the courts have been here for an inordinately long period of time - three to four years."
The Gun Court system has been put forth by gun ownership advocates as an example of a failed regime of gun control
. In an essay in the National Review
in 2001, Dave Kopel
argued that "[t]he Gun Court took guns only out of the hands of Jamaica's law-abiding, leaving them at the mercy of the criminals and the state."
John R. Lott has argued that "gun-control laws have failed to deliver as promised," noting that the murder rate in Jamaica was lower before the introduction of stricter gun control: it rose from 11.5 to 19.5 per 100,000 between 1973 and 1977, and reached 41.7 per 100,000 in 1980. By 2007 the rate had risen to 1,574 murders in the calendar year, or 59 per 100,000 inhabitants.
(Gun Court, 1993) and the dance hall artist Ranking Joe
, whose first single release was "Gun Court Law"
in 1974.
The reggae
musician Jah Cure
released his first album, Free Jah's Cure, from Tower Street Prison in 2000 after having been convicted before the Gun Court in 1998. Jah Cure continued to deny the charges of illegal firearms, rape, and robbery, and he attracted widespread support for his release, including "Free Jah Cure" campaigns and petition drives, until his release in 2007.
Firearm
A firearm is a weapon that launches one, or many, projectile at high velocity through confined burning of a propellant. This subsonic burning process is technically known as deflagration, as opposed to supersonic combustion known as a detonation. In older firearms, the propellant was typically...
s. The Court was established by Parliament
Parliament of Jamaica
The Parliament of Jamaica is the legislative branch of the government of Jamaica. It is a bicameral body, composed of an appointed Senate and an elected House of Representatives....
in 1974 to combat rising gun violence, and empowered to try suspects in camera
In camera
In camera is a legal term meaning "in private". It is also sometimes termed in chambers or in curia.In camera describes court cases that the public and press are not admitted to...
, without a jury
Trial by Jury
Trial by Jury is a comic opera in one act, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It was first produced on 25 March 1875, at London's Royalty Theatre, where it initially ran for 131 performances and was considered a hit, receiving critical praise and outrunning its...
. The Supreme Court
Judiciary of Jamaica
The judiciary of Jamaica is based on the judiciary of the United Kingdom.The courts are organized at four levels, with additional provision for appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London. The Court of Appeal is the highest appellate court. The Supreme Court has unlimited...
, Circuit Courts, and Resident Magistrate's Courts function as Gun Courts whenever they hear firearms cases. There is also a Western Regional Gun Court in Montego Bay
Montego Bay
Montego Bay is the capital of St. James Parish and the second largest city in Jamaica by area and the fourth by population .It is a tourist destination with duty free shopping, cruise line terminal and the beaches...
. Those convicted by the Gun Court are imprisoned in a dedicated prison
Prison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
compound at South Camp in Kingston
Kingston, Jamaica
Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley International Airport to the rest of the island...
. Until 1999, the Gun Court sessions were also held in the same facility.
The long sentences of the Gun Court and its restrictions on the rights of the accused have given rise to constitutional challenges, some of which have been appealed to the Privy Council
Judicial Committee of the Privy Council
The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council is one of the highest courts in the United Kingdom. Established by the Judicial Committee Act 1833 to hear appeals formerly heard by the King in Council The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) is one of the highest courts in the United...
in London. These cases have resulted in some modifications to the court, but have upheld it on the whole. The Gun Court system has also been the target of criticism because of its lengthy delay in hearing cases, and the continuing rise in gun violence since its adoption.
Establishment
The Gun Court Act and the Suppression of Crime Act were passed in special simultaneous sessions of the Senate and House of Representatives, and immediately signed into law by Governor-General Florizel GlasspoleFlorizel Glasspole
Sir Florizel Augustus Glasspole, ON, GCMG, GCVO, K.St.J was the third Governor General of Jamaica....
on April 1, 1974.
The new court had several extraordinary features. Most trials were to be conducted in camera
In camera
In camera is a legal term meaning "in private". It is also sometimes termed in chambers or in curia.In camera describes court cases that the public and press are not admitted to...
, without a jury and closed to the public and the press, in order to avoid problems of intimidation of witness
Witness
A witness is someone who has firsthand knowledge about an event, or in the criminal justice systems usually a crime, through his or her senses and can help certify important considerations about the crime or event. A witness who has seen the event first hand is known as an eyewitness...
es and jurors. There was no provision for bail
Bail
Traditionally, bail is some form of property deposited or pledged to a court to persuade it to release a suspect from jail, on the understanding that the suspect will return for trial or forfeit the bail...
, either pre-trial or during appeal, since all defendants were considered dangerous. Most offences carried a single, mandatory sentence: indefinite imprisonment with hard labour. A convicted offender could be released only upon special decision of the Governor-General, advised by an
appointed review board.
Legal challenges and amendments
The unusual features of the Gun Court have faced legal challenges, some of which have forced amendment of the Gun Court Act. The case Hinds et al. v. the Queen was an early test case for the new court. Four men, Moses Hinds, Henry Martin, Elkanah Hutchinson, and Samuel Thomas, had been arrested and convicted by the Gun Court in 1974 for possession of firearms and ammunition without a licence. They appealed their sentences to Jamaica's highest appellate court, the Court of AppealsJudiciary of Jamaica
The judiciary of Jamaica is based on the judiciary of the United Kingdom.The courts are organized at four levels, with additional provision for appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London. The Court of Appeal is the highest appellate court. The Supreme Court has unlimited...
, which initially declined to hear the case. However, they were allowed to apply to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council
Judicial Committee of the Privy Council
The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council is one of the highest courts in the United Kingdom. Established by the Judicial Committee Act 1833 to hear appeals formerly heard by the King in Council The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) is one of the highest courts in the United...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, which agreed to review the legality of the Gun Court system.
The Constitution of Jamaica
Politics of Jamaica
The Politics of Jamaica takes place in a framework of a representative parliamentary democratic monarchy. The 1962 Constitution established a parliamentary system based on the United Kingdom model. As chief of state, Queen Elizabeth II appoints a governor general, on the advice of the prime...
reserves certain serious crimes to the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court and its divisions. The Gun Court Act had established the Full Court division, with Resident Magistrate
Resident Magistrate
A resident magistrate is a title for magistrates used in certain parts of the world, that were, or are, governed by the British. Sometimes abbreviated as RM, it refers to suitably qualified personnel - notably well versed in the law - brought into an area from outside as the local magistrate,...
s presiding, to try major firearms offences. The Privy Council held that this provision of the Act improperly encroached on the jurisdiction reserved for the Supreme Court, and that the Full Court division was therefore unconstitutional. This fault was remedied in 1976 by replacing the Full Court division with a new High Court division, presided over by a single
Supreme Court justice.
The Privy Council also found that the institution of an appointed review board to determine the length of sentences was contrary to the doctrine of separation of powers
Separation of powers
The separation of powers, often imprecisely used interchangeably with the trias politica principle, is a model for the governance of a state. The model was first developed in ancient Greece and came into widespread use by the Roman Republic as part of the unmodified Constitution of the Roman Republic...
fundamental to the Westminster system
Westminster System
The Westminster system is a democratic parliamentary system of government modelled after the politics of the United Kingdom. This term comes from the Palace of Westminster, the seat of the Parliament of the United Kingdom....
of government. According to this principle, sentencing in each particular case is a function of the judiciary, and cannot be assigned to any other body. The 1976 amendment eliminated the review board entirely, leaving life imprisonment
Life imprisonment
Life imprisonment is a sentence of imprisonment for a serious crime under which the convicted person is to remain in jail for the rest of his or her life...
without review as the only possible sentence.
Another case, Trevor Stone v. the Queen, challenged the denial of jury trial for most gun offences. It was argued that trial by jury is a fundamental and constitutional right guaranteed by tradition in English common law
Common law
Common law is law developed by judges through decisions of courts and similar tribunals rather than through legislative statutes or executive branch action...
. The Jamaican Court of Appeals rejected this argument in a decision written by Court President Ira DeCordova Rowe
Ira DeCordova Rowe
The Hon. Ira De Cordova Rowe, Q.C., O.J. was one of the jurists of the Commonwealth Caribbean. His decisions on Jamaican, Belizan and Bahamian Constitution Law created a new Commonwealth jurisprudence based on the Westminster Model with a strong reliance on the wording of the new Commonwealth...
in 1980. The court noted that the written Constitution adopted by Jamaica upon independence
History of Jamaica
Jamaica, the 3rd largest Caribbean island, was inhabited by Arawak natives when it was first sighted by the 2nd voyage of Christopher Colombus on 5th May 1494. bob marley. christian. asmin. david...
guaranteed certain rights to criminal defendants, but omitted trial by jury. This case confirmed the Gun Court's power to try all non-capital cases before judges alone.
The case of Herbert Bell v. Director of Public Prosecutions, concerning the right to a speedy trial
Speedy trial
Speedy trial refers to one of the rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution to defendants in criminal proceedings. The right to a speedy trial, guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment, is intended to ensure that defendants are not subjected to unreasonably lengthy incarceration prior to a fair...
, reached the Privy Council in 1983. The defendant had been held awaiting trial for several years, but the state ultimately failed to present any evidence or witnesses. When he was again arrested on the same firearms charges, he filed suit arguing that the Gun Court had violated his constitutional rights through unreasonable delay. The Privy Council agreed, ruling that even when prevailing local standards were taken into account, Bell's trial had been excessively delayed through no fault of his own.
The Gun Court Amendment Act of 1983 allowed Resident Magistrates to grant pre-trial bail, and to decide whether to keep firearms cases in the Resident Magistrate's Court or to send them to the High Court division of the Gun Court. Judges were given the power to set sentences other than life imprisonment. Cases involving defendants under 14 years old were directed to juvenile court
Juvenile court
A juvenile court is a tribunal having special authority to try and pass judgments for crimes committed by children or adolescents who have not attained the age of majority...
s, instead of being heard by the ordinary Gun Court, and many young convicts serving indefinite sentences were released.
Divisions
The Gun Court has three divisions: the Resident Magistrate's Division, the High Court Division, and the Circuit Court Division. The three divisions differ in their jurisdictionJurisdiction
Jurisdiction is the practical authority granted to a formally constituted legal body or to a political leader to deal with and make pronouncements on legal matters and, by implication, to administer justice within a defined area of responsibility...
s and procedures. When someone is charged with a firearm violation, whether by unlicensed possession alone or by use of a gun in commission of a crime, the case is ordinarily sent to the High Court Division. These cases are tried in camera by a justice of the Supreme Court of Jamaica
Judiciary of Jamaica
The judiciary of Jamaica is based on the judiciary of the United Kingdom.The courts are organized at four levels, with additional provision for appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London. The Court of Appeal is the highest appellate court. The Supreme Court has unlimited...
, without a jury. The exceptions are charges of murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
and treason
Treason
In law, treason is the crime that covers some of the more extreme acts against one's sovereign or nation. Historically, treason also covered the murder of specific social superiors, such as the murder of a husband by his wife. Treason against the king was known as high treason and treason against a...
. As capital offences, these require a jury trial. Charges of murder or treason using firearms are given preliminary investigation by a single Resident Magistrate
Resident Magistrate
A resident magistrate is a title for magistrates used in certain parts of the world, that were, or are, governed by the British. Sometimes abbreviated as RM, it refers to suitably qualified personnel - notably well versed in the law - brought into an area from outside as the local magistrate,...
in the Resident Magistrate's Division of the Gun Court, in camera. They are then sent to the Gun Court's Circuit Court Division. A Supreme Court justice presides over a jury trial, "exercising the jurisdiction of a Circuit Court." The Circuit Court Division therefore differs from the other divisions of the Gun Court
in practicing jury trial
Jury trial
A jury trial is a legal proceeding in which a jury either makes a decision or makes findings of fact which are then applied by a judge...
.
The Gun Court Act originally instituted a Full Court Division, in which cases were to be heard by a panel of three Resident Magistrates. This was replaced by the High Court Division after the Privy Council struck down the Full Court Division in the Hinds case, as judges of the lower levels of the judiciary were not empowered by the Constitution to try serious offences.
Western Regional Gun Court
In 1999, Parliament established a Western Regional Gun Court with its own Resident Magistrate's, High Court, and Circuit Court divisions, in parallel with the jurisdictions and powers of the central Gun Court divisions. Cases arising in four western parishesParishes of Jamaica
Administratively, Jamaica is divided into fourteen parishes. They are grouped into three historic counties, which have no administrative relevance :...
, Hanover
Hanover Parish, Jamaica
Hanover , is a parish located on the northwestern tip of the island of Jamaica. It is a part of the county of Cornwall, bordered by St. James in the east, and Westmoreland in the south. With the exception of Kingston, it is the smallest parish on the island...
, Trelawny
Trelawny Parish, Jamaica
Trelawny is a parish in Cornwall County in northwest Jamaica. Its capital is Falmouth. It is bordered by the parishes of Saint Ann in the east, Saint James in the west, and Saint Elizabeth and Manchester in the south.-History:...
, Saint James
Saint James Parish, Jamaica
St James is a suburban parish, located on the north west end of the island of Jamaica. Its capital, Montego Bay, derived from the Spanish word Manteca because many wild hogs were found there from which they made lard. It was named publicly the second city of Jamaica, behind Kingston, in 1981....
, and Westmoreland
Westmoreland Parish, Jamaica
Westmoreland is the westernmost parish in Jamaica, located on the south side of the island. It is situated to the south of Hanover, the southwest of Saint James, and the northwest of Saint Elizabeth, in the county of Cornwall. The chief town and capital is Savanna-la-Mar...
, are heard in the Regional Court.
The Regional Gun Court sits in Montego Bay
Montego Bay
Montego Bay is the capital of St. James Parish and the second largest city in Jamaica by area and the fourth by population .It is a tourist destination with duty free shopping, cruise line terminal and the beaches...
, in the court facilities of the St. James Resident Magistrate's Court.
The regional court has been a success, avoiding the chronic backlogs that affect the central Gun Court.
South Camp compound
At the establishment of the new court in 1974, the Manley administration quickly build a new Gun Court compound (17°59′5"N 76°46′43"W) at South Camp Road, KingstonKingston, Jamaica
Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley International Airport to the rest of the island...
, with both court and prison
Prison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
facilities. The Gun Court Prison was defended by guard towers and barbed wire
Barbed wire
Barbed wire, also known as barb wire , is a type of fencing wire constructed with sharp edges or points arranged at intervals along the strand. It is used to construct inexpensive fences and is used atop walls surrounding secured property...
, earning it the nickname of "Jamaica's Stalag 17
Stalag 17
Stalag 17 is a 1953 war film which tells the story of a group of American airmen held in a German World War II prisoner of war camp, who come to suspect that one of their number is a traitor...
," and the walls were painted bright red "to show that it [is] dread."
It held 320 inmates in 1986.
The courtrooms housed the High Court and Resident Magistrate's divisions of the Gun Court until
1999, when they were converted to a "Peace Centre" dedicated to pursuing community mediation
Mediation
Mediation, as used in law, is a form of alternative dispute resolution , a way of resolving disputes between two or more parties. A third party, the mediator, assists the parties to negotiate their own settlement...
of disputes. The High Court division now sits in the Supreme Court building, and the Resident Magistrate's division sits in the Half Way Tree
Half Way Tree
Half Way Tree is a neighbourhood in the city of Kingston, Jamaica. It is the parish capital of St. Andrew.Half Way Tree is served by the Kingston 10 post office....
Courthouse. The prison itself remains in operation as the South Camp
Adult Correctional Centre,
housing inmates convicted by the Gun Court.
Criticism
The Gun Court has faced criticism on several fronts, most notably for its departure from traditional practices, for its large backlog of cases, and for the continuing escalation in gun violence since its institution.At the time of the 1976 amendments to the Act, the Jamaican Bar Association protested against the lack of jury trials and the harsh mandatory sentences. According to a report in the Virgin Islands Daily News, the Association's Bar Council objected to the possibility that children as young as 12 could be imprisoned for life, without release or appeal, for small offences such as being found with used ammunition.
The abrogation of jury trial has also been criticized by attorney and law professor David Rowe, the son of the Appeals Court justice who wrote the decision in the Stone case upholding the practice. Rowe argues that the common-law right to a jury trial is implied in the Constitutional provision for "a fair hearing within a reasonable time, by an independent and impartial court established by law," concluding that the Constitution had been "shorn of its most potent and ancient safeguard, trial by jury."
The 1993 County Report on Human Rights Practices
United States' Country Reports on Human Rights Practices
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices are publications on the annual human right conditions in countries and regions outside the United States, submitted annually by the United States Department of State to the United States Congress. The reports cover internationally recognized individual,...
in Jamaica from the United States Department of State
United States Department of State
The United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries...
noted the denial of a "fair public trial" and alleged that Gun Court trials observe "less rigorous rules of evidence
Rules of evidence
Rules of evidence govern whether, when, how, and for what purpose, proof of a legal case may be placed before a trier of fact for consideration....
than in regular court proceedings." The Canadian Bar Association
Canadian Bar Association
The Canadian Bar Association represents over 37,000 lawyers, judges, notaries, law teachers, and law students from across Canada.-History:The Association's first Annual Meeting was held in Montreal in 1896. However, the CBA has been in continuous existence in its present form since 1914...
's Jamaican Justice System Reform Task Force, in its preliminary recommendations, noted that the Gun Court is overloaded, that defendants are not well represented, and Crown attorney
Crown attorney
Crown Attorneys or Crown Counsel are the prosecutors in the legal system of Canada.Crown Attorneys represent the Crown and act as prosecutor in proceedings under the Criminal Code of Canada...
s are often inexperienced. The report recommended that trials no longer be held in camera, and that cases be moved to the ordinary Circuit Court to relieve the overburdened Gun Court. It did not take issue with non-jury trials, suggesting that the same practice might be used in more types of cases for greater efficiency.
Although the Gun Court was intended to expedite cases, bringing defendants to trial within seven days, defendants now often wait several years. The backlog
Backlog
Backlog generally refers to an accumulation over time of work waiting to be done or orders to be fulfilled.Backlog may also refer to:*different kinds of backlogs exist for different time scales in Scrum...
was nearing 1000 cases in 1998, and in the 2003-2004 court year, the High Court division carried forward 3,367 cases already on the docket, added 613 new cases, and concluded 462.
Senior Resident Magistrate Glenn Brown expressed dissatisfaction with the public prosecutors for taking too long to prepare cases, often because of difficulty in finding and bringing witnesses. Brown noted that "Seventy per cent of the persons who are before the courts have been here for an inordinately long period of time - three to four years."
The Gun Court system has been put forth by gun ownership advocates as an example of a failed regime of gun control
Gun control
Gun control is any law, policy, practice, or proposal designed to restrict or limit the possession, production, importation, shipment, sale, and/or use of guns or other firearms by private citizens...
. In an essay in the National Review
National Review
National Review is a biweekly magazine founded by the late author William F. Buckley, Jr., in 1955 and based in New York City. It describes itself as "America's most widely read and influential magazine and web site for conservative news, commentary, and opinion."Although the print version of the...
in 2001, Dave Kopel
Dave Kopel
Dave Kopel is an American author, attorney, political science researcher and contributing editor to several publications. He is currently Research Director of the Independence Institute in Golden, Colorado, Associate Policy Analyst at the Cato Institute, contributor to the National Review magazine...
argued that "[t]he Gun Court took guns only out of the hands of Jamaica's law-abiding, leaving them at the mercy of the criminals and the state."
John R. Lott has argued that "gun-control laws have failed to deliver as promised," noting that the murder rate in Jamaica was lower before the introduction of stricter gun control: it rose from 11.5 to 19.5 per 100,000 between 1973 and 1977, and reached 41.7 per 100,000 in 1980. By 2007 the rate had risen to 1,574 murders in the calendar year, or 59 per 100,000 inhabitants.
Gun Court in music
Several Jamaican musicians have sung about the Gun Court, including Junior Reed(Gun Court, 1993) and the dance hall artist Ranking Joe
Ranking Joe
Ranking Joe aka Little Joe is a reggae deejay who rose to prominence in the 1970s and had continuing success in the 1980s.-Biography:...
, whose first single release was "Gun Court Law"
in 1974.
The reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
musician Jah Cure
Jah Cure
Jah Cure, or Iyah Cure is a Jamaican reggae musician, who was raised in Kingston. He was given the name Jah Cure by Capleton whom he met while growing up in Kingston.-Career:...
released his first album, Free Jah's Cure, from Tower Street Prison in 2000 after having been convicted before the Gun Court in 1998. Jah Cure continued to deny the charges of illegal firearms, rape, and robbery, and he attracted widespread support for his release, including "Free Jah Cure" campaigns and petition drives, until his release in 2007.
External links
- The Gun Court Act, full text from the Ministry of Justice
- The Firearms Act and subsidiary legislation, full text from the Ministry of Justice
- Structure of the Jamaican Court System from the Ministry of Justice