Two new gun courts are expected to be operating by January at the latest, Chief Justice Leslie Haynes announced on Monday, as the judiciary moves to address firearms cases and ease pressure on the wider court system.
As the 2026-2027 legal year opened with a special sitting at Court No 1 in the Supreme Court Complex, he said: “As you are aware we are on the verge of implementing the gun courts. By January next year, at the very latest, we shall have the two gun courts in operation. I know that between the Attorney General and the Minister of Legal Affairs we would probably have those in operation long before January.
Revealing that these courts will be located at the Henry Forde and David Simmons Legal and Judicial Complex on Coleridge Street, Haynes acknowledged the physical constraints being encountered in finding court space.
“There have been a number of construction projects in the courts this year, especially the Forde-Simmons Complex, as we are preparing there to deal specifically with unlawful possession of firearms, familiarly known as the gun court. But as a general rule, we are running out of space. Recent renovations at the Forde-Simmons Complex and the expansion of the judiciary in the Supreme Court Complex have highlighted this fact. We must therefore be creative in the allocation of space, and I think that this is reflected in the programme of goods that is being proposed. The rehabilitation of the St Matthias complex is long overdue. I am assured, however, that plans are now at an advanced stage.
“Secondly, in District A, work will commence on the waiting area for the magistrates’ courts. The public can rest assured that visits to the magistrates’ courts will always be regarded as visits for which their dignity should not be impugned. Thirdly, repairs to the roof of the Supreme Court complex are due to continue, and fourthly, construction of two additional courts in the Supreme Court complex, and meeting rooms for attorneys at law visiting the complex. It is an ambitious agenda, but it is an agenda for which we must give our best efforts to ensure that we achieve positive outcomes.”
The Chief Justice also noted that Internet capacity at all magistrates’ courts was currently being upgraded to allow bail applications to be heard virtually. He said this would reduce the pressure being placed on the Barbados Prison Service.
“It is expected that within the coming months, bail applications will be heard virtually and will become the norm. The need to bring prisoners down to the magistrates’ courts for these applications will become a thing of the past, thus allowing the prison to allocate much needed resources elsewhere.”
He stressed that, through the improved Internet capacity, several other improvements would occur, including the possibility of reviewing daily the administrative procedures of the magistrates’ courts, such as payment in and payment out of monies, maintenance and debt collection, as well as enforcement of finance.
Touching on a new judicial complex for Six Roads, he said it would include ‘a command centre’.
“This command centre is expected to focus on the collection of fines, fees, and payments within the magistrates’ courts. It is no longer acceptable for each magistrate’s court to have a separate banking account. It is an administrative nightmare and does not lend to an acceptable level of transparency. This centre will greatly assist in accountability for monies paid into the magistrates’ courts and monies to be paid out, for example, child maintenance and debt collection as well.”
(JB)
The post Gun courts by January – CJ appeared first on Barbados Today.
