The Browne administration is preparing to introduce statutory minimum sentences for serious firearm crimes and sexual offences as part of a wider overhaul of Antigua and Barbuda’s sentencing laws.

Prime Minister Gaston Browne announced that the Government intends to take amendments to Parliament shortly, following mounting public concern about sentences imposed on repeat offenders and people convicted of serious crimes against children.

“We’re going to Parliament shortly to change the sentencing guidelines,” Browne said. “We’re also going to introduce minimum penalties in our laws.”

The Prime Minister said the proposed legislation would be directed primarily at heinous crimes, particularly serious firearm offences, sexual offences against children and crimes committed by repeat offenders.

He indicated that a minimum term of 10 years was among the options being considered for certain offences but stressed that no final figure had yet been approved.

“If you rape someone’s child, especially if the person is a minor, we may decide that your minimum should be 10 years,” Browne said. “If a judge wants to give less than 10 years, they must justify it.”

Browne said the Government recognises that judges require discretion to consider the particular circumstances of each case. The proposed system would therefore allow courts to depart from the statutory minimum where exceptional or extenuating circumstances could be established.

The Prime Minister explained that the Government did not want an inflexible law that could produce unfair outcomes for first-time offenders or people involved in unusual circumstances.

He said the main concern was with repeat offenders who continue to receive short sentences before returning to criminal activity.

Browne also expressed support in principle for Social and Urban Transformation Minister Rawdon Turner’s proposal that serious child sexual offences and violent firearm crimes should carry sentences ranging from a minimum of 15 years to life imprisonment.

However, he said the Government was exploring a model based on Canadian jurisprudence that could establish a meaningful sentencing floor without completely removing judicial discretion.

Browne said the final legislation would have to be carefully drafted to withstand constitutional scrutiny while clearly communicating Parliament’s demand for tougher punishment for the country’s most serious crimes.