The Bail (Amendment) (Extension of Duration) Bill, 2022, will be in focus at Parliament once more, when Attorney General, Senator Reginald Armour, moves the second reading of legislation at the 35th Sitting of the Senate on Monday 4 July 2022, at 10:00 am.
The Office of the Parliament notes that there will be live coverage of the debate on Parliament Channel 11, Radio 105.5 FM, as well as its ParlView channel on YouTube.
The Bail Amendment Act restricts bail for repeat offenders of violent crimes, preventing them from being granted bail for 120 days after being charged.
The Bail Act was passed in 2019. It included a three-year sunset clause which expires on August 4, 2022. For it to be extended, Government needs the support of the Opposition United National Congress (UNC), so that it passes with the required special majority.
Speaking during a media conference at the Ministry of National Security’s head office in Port-of-Spain a couple weeks ago, National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds warned that if the Bail Amendment Act is not extended, violent criminals will run rampant in Trinidad and Tobago.
He lobbied citizens to lobby their Parliamentary representatives to support the extension of the legislation when it is brought up before the House and the Senate, once more.
And Commissioner of Police (Ag) McDonald Jacob, who also was present at that media conference, made his own appeal for the Bail Act’s extension, noting that it has assisted police in keeping violent repeat offenders behind bars.