Six bills were tabled in Parliament yesterday including one which seeks police supervision of paedophiles for the rest of their lives to prevent repeat crimes.
The Court of Appeal (Amendment) Bill 2008, which will allow the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to approach the Court of Appeal and the Caribbean Court of Justice and a Pre-vention of Crimes (Amend-ment) Bill to have certain convicted persons placed under police supervision were among the six read for the first time.
The bills and an amendment to the regulations made under the Excise Tax Act 2005 are expected to be debated ahead of the two-month recess, which will run from August to October.
The Prevention of Crimes (Amendment) Bill seeks to give police the authority to supervise any person convicted on indictment of a crime, in addition to the punishment handed down.
Paedophiles would be subjected to police supervision for life, as well as persons involved in molestation, rape, sexual exploitation, pornography, prostitution, incest and kidnapping. In the case of armed robbery, domestic violence, hijacking, offences involving the use of firearm or explosives, and piracy, police supervision would be for three years. Persons who had no previous conviction would be supervised for one year; those with one previous conviction would be supervised for two years and those with “more previous convictions than one of any crime” would be supervised for three years.
The explanatory memorandum for this bill said “of late, it has been noticed that there has been a spate of commission of heinous offences by persons who have earlier been convicted. Further the requirement of subjecting to police supervision is not compulsory and occurs only in cases where the court has directed such supervision. With a view to curbing crimes in a more effective manner, it is considered necessary to subject every person convicted on indictment of a crime to compulsory police supervision immediately after serving the sentence… In case of paedophile offences mentioned in Part 11 of the Schedule, the police supervision shall be for life”.
The Court of Appeal (Amendment) Bill makes provision for the DPP to appeal against the acquittal of an accused in the High Court where the trial judge upholds no-case submissions, on any ground or appeal that involves a question of law or evidence. The Bill would also allow the DPP to appeal an acquittal based on a defect in the depositions or the committal of the accused; the exclusion of material evidence sought to be adduced by the prosecution; substantial misdirection of the jury in the course of the judge’s summation; or a material irregularity in the trial.
The Bill also provides for the DPP to appeal against a sentence passed on a convict on the ground that the court had no power to pass it; it was manifestly inadequate; or wrong in principle.
Provision is also made for the procedure and time for appealing and the right to appeal would be limited to murder, treason, manslaughter, rape, defilement and other sexual offences, piracy, hijacking, money laundering, robbery, drug offences, burglary, housebreaking, theft, offences involving dishonesty, firearms offences, conspiracies and attempts to commit offences referred to previously; and aiding and abetting a person who commits the offences referred to previously.
Outlawing
boom boxes
The Evidence and Motor Vehicles and Road Traffic (Amendment Bill) 2008, which also had its first reading, would allow, among other provisions, for member of the Guyana Police Force to operate a breath-analysing device on a driver suspected of consuming excessive alcohol.
The Summary Jurisdiction (Offences) (Amendment) Bill 2008 would see the insertion of a new section in the Sum-mary Jurisdiction (Offence) Act prohibiting minibuses and hire cars from using loud, continuous or repetitive electronic equipment that would cause a nuisance to a commuter, or impair the driver’s ability to use the road cautiously.
Speaking on hand-held mobile phones or other such devices while driving will be outlawed as the Motor Vehicles and Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill 2008, seeks to insert a section restricting this. It also seeks to insert a definition of all terrain vehicles (ATVs) and provide for their use on public roads and off-highway trails.
The Tax (Amendment) Bill 2008 to repeal Section 16 of the principal Tax Act also had its first reading in the National Assembly yesterday. This is meant to make the process of incorporation and capitalisation of companies less financially onerous, while at the same time encouraging companies to ensure that their stated capital correctly reflects their financial affairs for the better information and security of investors and creditors.
The bill also seeks to repeal the section to alleviate “what may otherwise be an onerous amount of Stamp Duty payable upon the incorporation or increased capitalization of companies in Guyana.”
Regulations made under the Excise Tax Act 2005 were also tabled and will come into operation on July 21. One would allow exemptions of excise tax on motor vehicles imported to conduct the business of municipalities as well as the budget agency named in the schedule to the Fiscal Management and Accountability Act 2003.
In addition, it will now allow for excise tax on imported vehicles less than four years old to be computed at one and half times the CIF value. However, this does not extend to new vehicles for which the rate of excise tax “shall be calculated on a value, which, to the satisfaction of the Commissioner-General, is the sum of the ordinary retail selling price at which the motor vehicle would normally be sold…” without having regard to any discounts, commissions, monetary deductions, or other allowances.