Calls for urgent, bipartisan amendments to Firearms Act to ensure swift justice

The Opposition Spokesperson on Justice, Zuleika Jess, MP, has forcefully rejected Justice Minister Delroy Chuck’s defence of the Firearms (Prohibition, Restriction and Regulation) Act, calling his latest remarks at the Eastern Region Assize Church Service an attempt to protect an impractical and legally flawed policy. 

While noting the Minister’s warning regarding the perception of going soft on guns, Miss Jess maintained that the current law severely compromises the justice system, and she is demanding urgent, bipartisan legislative amendments to restore judicial discretion, encourage plea bargaining, and ensure the swift delivery of justice.

The Opposition Spokesperson on Justice, whilst acknowledging that the entire nation welcomes any verifiable reduction in violent crime, emphasised that attributing the decline to the mandatory minimum sentences in the Firearms Act is misguided and legally unsupported. She pointed out that legal experts and senior members of the judiciary, including Chief Justice Bryan Sykes, have repeatedly warned that the rigid 15-year mandatory minimum sentence eliminates any rational incentive for accused persons to plead guilty. This lack of incentive has started to clog the Gun Court, risking a return to case backlog and stalling the swift delivery of justice.

“The primary duty of Parliament is to pass laws that deliver actual justice, not institutional absurdity,” said Miss Jess, reiterating positions from her Sectoral Debate contribution. “No one is suggesting that Jamaica should go soft on illegal firearms. The Opposition supports a tough, unyielding approach to eliminating gun production, trafficking, and possession. However, using a sledgehammer to smash the scales of justice undermines the constitutional doctrine of separation of powers and robs judges of their necessary legal discretion.”

The Opposition notes that despite Minister Chuck’s public insistence that his colleagues and the security forces “feel” the Act is working well, his ministry has simultaneously been forced to admit that sections of the legislation require amendments to facilitate plea negotiations. Miss Jess called this a glaring policy contradiction, noting that the Government cannot continue to publicly double down on a bad policy while privately trying to fix its structural fallout.

“Minister Chuck must stop using public speaking engagements to play politics with national security and the rule of law,” Ms. Jess asserted. “We need immediate, common-sense amendments to the Firearms Act that strike a balance between severe penalties for gun crimes and a functional justice system that encourages timely plea deals. Justice delayed by a choked court system is justice denied to the victims of gun violence.”

The Opposition stands ready to engage in immediate, bipartisan legislative dialogue to fix the anomalies within the Act, ensuring that Jamaica has a criminal justice system that is both ruthlessly effective against criminals and structurally sound.