‘Fallacious!’

CHUCK...the security forces and a number of my colleagues feel that the Act is working and it is bringing down murders and shootingsa NOTED defence attorney Peter Champagnie, King’s Counsel, has described as “fallacious” recent assertions by Justice Minister Delroy Chuck that the 2022 Firearms Act is being credited by members of the security forces and other key stakeholders for the sharp decline in murders and shootings in recent times. Addressing members of the judiciary attending the 2026 Assize Church Service at East Queen Street Baptist Church on Sunday, Chuck said, “I am aware that in the Firearms Act you have mandatory [minimum] sentences. It is a matter that is being examined but I can tell you that, from where I sit, the security forces and a number of my colleagues feel that the Act is working and it is bringing down murders and shootings. It is under consideration, but firearms are a major problem in our country and that is why we don’t want to send a signal that we are going to relent on the enforcement to condemn the possession and the use of firearms. But it is under consideration”. The Firearms (Prohibition, Restriction and Regulation) Act, 2022, which prescribes a mandatory 15-year sentence for violations, took effect in November 2022 and, among other things, provides penalties ranging from 15 years to life imprisonment for possession of illegal weapons, and establishes a dual regime — distinguishing between prohibited weapons or unregulated firearms and connected activities, and firearms that are duly authorised or registered. Champagnie, who has led calls for an amendment to the legislation, in a sharp retort to Chuck’s remarks which were published in the September 14 edition of the Jamaica Observer, said his assertions were fanciful at best. “A the risk of being acerbic, for anyone to suggest that this new Act is to be credited with the decrease in murders, [they live] not in Jamaica, but exist in Wonderland. I therefore urge the honourable minister of justice to proceed post-haste with making substantial amendments to the Act. The present state of affairs is not only placing an increasing burden on our courts, but is also undermining the very objective which the legislation was intended to achieve,” the attorney stated. Champagnie said, “while it cannot be denied that there has been a record decrease in murders when compared with any other period in our recent history, the empirical evidence does not indicate that there has been a corresponding reduction in the number of gun-related offences since the passage of the Firearms (Prohibition, Restriction and Regulation) Act in 2022”. “The number of courtrooms, judges and prosecutors assigned to deal with gun offences under the Act has not materially decreased in the Supreme Court, where the majority of gun cases are tried within the island. Save and except for the use of one of the courtrooms normally reserved for gun trials, which has now been retrofitted as an office for legal transcriptionists, there remain, as before, three other active courts exclusively assigned to deal with gun offences,” the defence attorney pointed out. In addition, Champagnie contended that the number of accused persons being brought before these courts since the passage of the Act in 2022 has not diminished. On the contrary, he said “the creation of a number of new species of offences under the Act has also contributed to the increase in the number of accused persons appearing before the courts”. “It should also be noted that, owing to the sheer volume of gun cases, one of the three courts is now utilised exclusively for the management of new cases. In short, the new Act, after four years in operation, is yet to have any discernible impact on the number of gun cases coming before our courts,” he argued. CHAMPAGNIE…for anyone to suggest that this new Act is to be credited with the decrease in murders, [they live] not in Jamaica, but exist in Wonderland.Pointing out that the continued overflow of gun cases is not confined to the Supreme Court, which deals with cases emanating from the parishes of St Catherine and Kingston and St Andrew, Champagnie said the Regional Gun Court in Montego Bay, St James, still operates at the level at which it did prior to the passage of the Act. “Other parishes have been equally affected by high volume of gun cases. Not surprisingly, therefore, and to the credit of the chief justice, a special sitting of the Gun Court was introduced alongside the operation of the last session of the Circuit Court in the parish of St Mary. This was achieved through the use of one of the courtrooms originally assigned for parish court matters,” the attorney stated. According to Champagnie, based on those factors, “it is obvious that the advent of the Firearms (Prohibition, Restriction and Regulation) Act has not swung the pendulum in the direction of a reduction in gun offences coming before our courts”. “Moreover, the component of the Act which attracts a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years imprisonment, irrespective of the circumstances and/or whether an accused person pleads guilty, has rendered an important aspect of the proper functioning of the Act redundant. There is no benefit to be derived by an accused person pleading guilty in terms of receiving a reduced sentence. Consequently, accused persons are opting to take their chances by going to trial, with the hope of securing an acquittal,” he added. The attorney said “such hopes of acquittal are far from fanciful, given that more than 50 per cent of these trials end in acquittal”. “The resultant effect of the absence of guilty pleas is the creation of situation where there are now more cases to try than there are courtrooms, judges and prosecutors available to deal with them. Simply put, the gains made in reducing the backlog of cases prior to the advent of this Act are fast diminishing,” he stated, adding that “to equate a decrease in murders with the introduction of this new Act is, quite frankly, fallacious”. “The legislation dealing with the offence of murder is the Offences Against the Person Act. That legislation principally deals with the offence of murder and the stipulated period of incarceration upon conviction. Admittedly, while the vast majority of murders in Jamaica are committed with the use of firearm, the Firearms (Prohibition, Restriction and Regulation) Act does not itself deal with any issue concerning the offence of murder,” Champagnie outlined further. According to the Serious Crimes Report published by the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF), up to July this year Jamaica recorded 275 murders, 23 per cent less than the 335 reported during the same period in 2025. It said overall, category one crimes declined by 15 per cent, with 322 fewer major crimes reported than last year. According to the JCF, the reduction in murders formed part of a broader decline in serious crimes, with shootings falling by 27 per cent, robberies by 25 per cent, while both rapes and break-ins declined by 10 per cent over the comparative period. In January this year the country reported its lowest monthly murder figure since national crime data collection began in 2001 with 33 homicides, representing a 55 per cent reduction when compared to January 2025 which recorded 74 murders.