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’Judge Only’ bill passed in Lower House, despite concerns raised Once again, the Criminal Proceedings Bill (Judge Alone Trial) was dissected by some Members of Parliament for having several discrepancies. For quite some time, members of the legal fraternity have been mulling this bill as a way to reduce the backlog of indictable cases that must go to trial, by introducing trials without a jury present. But at the last parliamentary sitting, the bill was sent back to the committee stage. A five-person committee consisting of Leader of the Opposition Jamale Pringle and MPs Trevor Walker, Sa...

Bar Association not in support of ‘judge alone’ trials The Head of the Antigua and Barbuda Bar Association is insisting that the government should look to retrofit the courts to observe Covid-19 protocols as one possible solution to the resumption of jury trials in the High Court. The government is currently exploring ways to resume jury trials that were suspended indefinitely due to the Covid-19 pandemic. One of the options that is now on the table is the proposed Criminal Procedure (Trials by Judge Alone) Bill 2020 which makes provisions for criminal matters to take place without a jury...