Caribbean News
JAMAICA: Ministerial Brief on Sexual Offences JSC
Jamaica, October 2, 2019 – Brief for the Honourable Minister of Justice on the Report of the Joint Select Committee appointed to complete the review of The Sexual Offences Act along with the Offences Against The Person Act, The Domestic Violence Act and The Child Care and Protection Act.
BACKGROUND
Members of this Honourable House will recall that in December 2018, the Report of the Joint Select Committee which reviewed the Sexual Offences Act, inter alia, was tabled in this House.
The Report discloses that the Committee:
1. Reviewed the Sexual Offences Act pursuant to section 41 of the said Act, which provides that it must be reviewed within five years of its date of commencement;
2. Considered and reviewed the Offences Against the Person Act, the Domestic Violence Act and the Child Care and Protection Act, with particular emphasis on the offences and punishment under these legislation with regard to:
a. The murder of pregnant women;
b. The assault of women, children and the elderly;
c. Sexual offences against women, children and the elderly;
d. Such other violent crimes against women, children, the disabled and the elderly as may be deemed necessary for the review.
AND
3. Made recommendations for legislative amendment, not restricted to the stated legislation under review, for the better administration of justice and the effective protection of these special groups, as the Committee deemed necessary.
MS, I must remind this House that the review of the legislation under the Report originally arose from a Private Members Motion tabled in 2013 by then Opposition Senator Johnson Smith. This motion received unanimous support from both sides of the Senate. Consequently, a review of the four Acts was undertaken by a previous Committee in 2014, which was unable to complete its work prior to the general elections held in 2016.
The last Committee commenced deliberations on January 18, 2017 and held a total of nineteen meetings (19), with the last meeting being held on December 6, 2018.
The Committee having heard numerous submissions from the various stakeholders (government, civil society, NGOs and other special interest groups), made certain recommendations, some of which are set out below:
1. BUGGERY, ABORTION AND HIV
This House will recall the implications of an amendment to the Buggery Act and the Savings under the Constitution. In summary, it was posited that forced anal penetration should be made a criminal offence akin to vaginal penetration with a commensurate penalty. An examination of legislative authorities revealed however, that any amendment to that effect could be construed as an implied repeal of the offence of buggery. Accordingly, it
was determined that the Committee did not have the power effect that amendment and the matter should properly be considered by Parliament. MS, this government has given its commitment to invoking a referendum on the matter, however, I am urging my colleagues in this House to carefully consider the issue and make their recommendations. The same considerations apply to the issue of abortion.
HIV
MS, the Committee also recommended that it should be a criminal offence for someone to willfully or recklessly infect a partner with any sexual transmissible disease that can inflict serious bodily harm to that partner but like the issue of abortion it should be considered by Parliament as a whole.
MS, the intention is to clarify the law by codifying the common law position. I recently received a position paper from the National Family Planning Board which is opposing the view that the law should be amended to provide for the specific offence of willful transmittal of an STD. Copies of this paper will be made available to this House for your consideration.
2. MARITAL RAPE
MS, section of 5 of the Sexual Offences Act provides that certain conditions must be met before it is determined that a husband can rape his wife. The Committee recommended that those conditions must be removed to retain one qualification for rape, that is non-consensual sex.
3. SEXUAL OFFENDERS ABROAD TO BE REGISTERED
The Committee recommended that it must be made mandatory for sex offenders who have relocated or returned to Jamaica register in the Sex Offender Registry in Jamaica. Failure to register will constitute an offence which may be punishable by imprisonment. Further,
4. AGE OF CONSENT AND CLOSE IN AGE PROVISION
The Committee was of the view that the age of consent should remain at 16 years and a provision should be included in the law to prevent the criminalization of children where they willingly engaged in sexual activities with each other.
Accordingly, it was agreed that:
i) There should be a close-in age range of four years for the exception to apply;
ii) where both parties are under 17 years old, they would be sent to Child Diversion or dealt with by such other order under the Child Care and Protection Act;
iii) in respect of children under the age of 12 years old, (who cannot commit an offence under the law), provisions should be included in the Child Care and Protection Act that allows the Children’s Court to make an appropriate order; and
iv) for persons up to the age of 19 years, the options would be, counseling, probation or other available remedy.
5. INCREASE IN PENALTIES
It has been recommended that the penalties for offences in all four pieces of legislation should be reviewed and increased to make them a deterrent. This is particularly where the criminal acts are committed against the most vulnerable groups in the society. Such offences will be treated as an aggravating offence which may attract an additional penalty, for example a mandatory minimum of 20 years.
6. THE NEW OFFENCE OF STALKING
It is also recommended that a new offence of stalking should be created.
7. THE DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ACT
The Committee recommended that the Domestic Violence Act should be amended to provide for enhanced protection orders which would provide a range of remedies.
Accordingly, the Committee was of the view that a separate, Joint Select Committee of Parliament should be established to carry out a comprehensive review of the Act on its own, to ensure that the legislation as well as the institutional and social framework necessary for the successful implementation of all aspects of the legislation could be dealt with.
MS, these are just some of the recommendations made by the Committee and I now present those recommendations for debate by this House.
Release: JIS
By Deandrea Hamilton | Magnetic Media
October 14, 2025 – It’s being called political theatre — but for citizens, constitutional watchdogs, and democracy advocates across the Caribbean, it feels far more serious. Within a single week, two national parliaments — in Trinidad and Tobago and St. Kitts and Nevis — descended into turmoil as opposition members stormed out in protest, accusing their Speakers of bias, overreach, and abuse of parliamentary procedure.
For observers, the walkouts signal a deeper problem: erosion of trust in the very institutions meant to safeguard democracy. When Speakers are viewed as political enforcers instead of neutral referees, parliaments stop functioning as chambers of debate and start performing as stages for power and spectacle — with citizens left wondering who, if anyone, is still accountable.
October 6: St. Kitts Parliament Erupts
The first walkout erupted in Basseterre on October 6, 2025, when Dr. Timothy Harris, former Prime Minister and now Opposition Leader,
led his team out of the St. Kitts and Nevis National Assembly in a protest that stunned the chamber.
The flashpoint came as the Speaker moved to approve more than three years’ worth of unratified parliamentary minutes in one sitting — covering 27 meetings and three national budgets — without individual review or debate.
Dr. Harris called the move “a flagrant breach of the Constitution and parliamentary tradition,” warning that the practice undermines transparency and accountability. “No serious parliament can go years without approving a single set of minutes,” he said after exiting the chamber.
The Speaker defended the decision as administrative housekeeping, but critics were unconvinced, branding the move a “world record disgrace.” The opposition’s walkout triggered renewed calls for the Speaker’s resignation and sparked a wider public discussion about record-keeping, accountability, and respect for parliamentary norms in St. Kitts and Nevis.
October 10: Trinidad Opposition Follows Suit
Four days later, on October 10, 2025, the Opposition United National Congress (UNC) in Trinidad and Tobago staged its own walkout from the House of Representatives in Port of Spain.
The UNC accused the Speaker of partisan bias, claiming she had repeatedly blocked urgent questions, ignored points of order, and allowed government members to breach standing orders without consequence.
“The Speaker has failed in her duty to act impartially,” the Opposition declared in a statement. “Parliament is not the property of any political party or Presiding Officer.”
The dramatic exit was seen as a culmination of months of rising tension and frustration, with opposition MPs arguing that parliamentary rules were being selectively applied to silence dissenting voices.
Political analyst Dr. Marcia Ferdinand described the twin walkouts as “a warning sign that parliamentary democracy in the Caribbean is teetering on the edge of performative politics.”
“When chairs become political shields rather than constitutional referees,” she said, “democracy becomes theatre, not governance.”
A Pattern Emerging
While St. Kitts and Trinidad are very different political environments, both incidents point to the same regional fault line: the perception that Speakers — the guardians of parliamentary order — are no longer impartial.
In Westminster-style systems like those across the Caribbean, the Speaker’s authority depends not on power but on public confidence in fairness. Once that credibility erodes, parliamentary control collapses into confrontation.
Governance experts say the implications are serious: eroded trust between government and opposition, declining public confidence in state institutions, and growing voter cynicism that “rules” are flexible tools of political advantage.
Why It Matters
Parliamentary walkouts are not new in the Caribbean, but what makes these recent events different is their frequency and intensity — and
the regional echo they’ve created. Social media has amplified images of lawmakers storming out, with citizens from Barbados to Belize questioning whether the same erosion of decorum could be happening in their own legislatures.
Analysts warn that if this perception takes hold, it risks diminishing the moral authority of parliamentary democracy itself.
“Once opposition MPs believe the rules are rigged, and once citizens believe Parliament is just performance,” said one Caribbean governance researcher, “you’ve lost the most valuable currency in democracy — trust.”
Restoring Balance
Political reformers across the region are calling for tighter Standing Order enforcement, independent parliamentary service commissions, and training to strengthen Speaker neutrality. Civil society leaders say the public must also play its part by demanding transparency and refusing to normalize partisan manipulation of parliamentary procedure.
Whether these twin walkouts become catalysts for reform — or simply another episode of Caribbean political theatre — will depend on what happens next inside those chambers.
For now, democracy watchers agree on one thing: when opposition leaders feel the only way to be heard is to walk out, the entire democratic house — not just its Speaker — is in danger of collapse.
Angle by Deandrea Hamilton. Built with ChatGPT (AI). Magnetic Media — CAPTURING LIFE.
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