OFF THE WIRE
Court rulings favour anti-gxxg legislation Minister
Anti-gxxg legislation has been drafted for Government and the courts have signalled it could be brought in, according to Minister of National Security Wayne Perinchief.
He gave the update at a public meeting last night, but said concerns over civil liberties were still being addressed, and the whole issue had turned into a “vexing conundrum”.
Mr Perinchief came under fire from the Opposition earlier this month for promoting such legislation when he first came to office, then dropping it, before bringing the idea back to the table again.
Last night at the public forum on gxxg prevention hosted at St Paul Centennial Hall in Hamilton, he told a 70-strong audience what has happened since he took the helm last April.
He explained various options were researched, including a Canadian law which allows crimes committed within a gxxg environment to attract extra penalties.
“The problem arose in identifying what a gang was in the Bermudian context,” he said. “In our close-knit families we might have one gxxg member, let’s say, and just mere association with the family would bring that family under some sort of sanction and there was pushback.
“That was last year. What we are finding now is that gangs are being identified by the police; by name, by region, and the Supreme Court is accepting (evidence) that there are in fact gxxgs identified by territory, description and certainly association.”
For that reason, he said: “I believe that in time, we will revisit the legislation, the need for it, and the behaviour surrounding gxxgs and the sanctions to be brought forth not just for membership, but for offences committed within the gxxg.”
However, he said drafting such a law proved “vexatious” because in Australia, anti biker gxxg legislation failed the human rights test.
Mr Perinchief revealed: “Recently, Kevin Comeau, a well known lawyer in Bermuda, did assist in drafting some specimen legislation that could actually be adopted in Bermuda but we have to really consider the civil liberties side of that.”
The Minister did not indicate when the draft legislation might be ready for consideration by Parliament.
When former Premier Ewart Brown first mooted anti-gang legislation in 2009, the police signalled that they may not be in favour of the idea. Dr Brown was hoping to mirror Bike Gxxg laws in Australia, which make being a gxxg member a criminal offence. However, Assistant Commissioner Paul Wright told this newspaper at the time that there were issues with enforcing laws that make gxxg membership a crime.
“Anti-gxxg legislation creates an extra evidential layer. You don’t only have to prove that someone’s committed an offence but done it as a member of a broader group. That can make it more difficult,” he said.
Last night, Mr Perinchief invited Police Commissioner Michael DeSilva to give his views during the public meeting. Mr DeSilva replied that he could not give an official position on legislation that is being considered as “we don’t make the law, we just enforce it.”
However, he noted, there are many reasons why people join gangs and the key to dismantling them could come from addressing three issues; respect, revenge and assets. He suggested that if gxxg members had other tools to earn respect and settle their differences then they would not want to be in a gxxg.
Likewise, he said, higher penalties for committing a crime within a gxxg environment would make membership off-putting. He also highlighted legislation that can strip gxxg members of their assets.
“If you’re making money as a gxxg and you get caught you lose everything,” he explained. “If you get caught and everything you have; cash, jewellery, car, girlfriend, watch, everything disappears overnight, that might actually wake people up.
“So I’m not going to endorse any particular piece of legislation but I will endorse the principle that if you can find ways, whether it’s legislative changes, enforcement changes, community changes, if you can take the attractiveness out of gxxgs they will fall apart overnight because no one will see any value in being in them.”
Mr Perinchief pointed out that legislation has already been brought in allowing the courts to seize cash stemming from criminal conduct. He added that soon, and “probably in this session” of Parliament, there will be further legislation to strip ill-gotten gains in the form of property from gangsters and other criminals.
http://www.royalgazette.com/article/20120223/NEWS03/702239953/-1