A week-long withdrawal of defence lawyers from Jamaica’s criminal courts, which began on Monday, has pushed a less-discussed effect of the Firearms Act’s 15-year mandatory minimum into view: whether it is slowing the Gun Court by removing any reason to plead guilty.

Jamaica introduced sentence discounts for early guilty pleas in 2015. Opposition Leader Mark Golding has credited that measure with cutting backlogs in the Gun Court and parish courts. The 2022 Act set a floor of 15 years for certain firearm offences, including illegal possession, and defence attorneys say a guilty plea no longer reduces it.

Defence attorney Peter Champagnie, KC, has described how the conversation with clients goes. The penalty on conviction is 15 years; the penalty on a guilty plea is 15 years, so the accused chooses trial. Chief Justice Bryan Sykes has raised the same concern, questioning what incentive an accused has to plead guilty when the minimum stays fixed.

Court data show early strain. Sykes said earlier this month that the Gun Court in Kingston and St Andrew has no backlog but that one is building again. The court still disposes of more than 84 per cent of cases within its 24-month benchmark. According to the Supreme Court’s 2025 statistics, 152 of 756 charges in the court’s High Court Division ended in a conviction or guilty plea, a rate of 20.1 per cent. The report said many disposed charges were dismissed before trial, which points to possible weaknesses at arrest or filing. It also warned that defendants may see an 80 per cent chance of walking free at trial.

The Government has promised changes before. In November 2024, Justice Minister Delroy Chuck said the Act would be amended to drive more guilty pleas. The 2025 Throne Speech listed a plea negotiation framework among legislative priorities, though it said the minimum had increased accused persons’ interest in pleading guilty. Chuck now says the Act will be reviewed next year, with no intention to disturb the 15-year floor.

No published figure shows what a contested Gun Court trial costs in judge, prosecutor, legal aid and witness time compared with a plea. A 2018 government estimate put the annual cost of keeping one inmate at about $1.3 million. Remand prisoners made up 22.5 per cent of the prison population in 2021. Accused persons denied bail stay on remand until trial, so longer trial queues add to that population.

Champagnie says the lawyers are not seeking repeal, only discretion for judges to go below 15 years in exceptional cases. The Opposition has filed questions asking Chuck for a timeline on the promised amendments. This week’s withdrawal will add its own adjournments to the Gun Court list.