Caption:
Participants in the Plea Bargain/Agreement workshop are pictured. At left is Cleopatra Christie, consultant in the Office of the Attorney General (BIS photo/Patrick Hanna)
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Nassau, The Bahamas – Staff of the Office of the Attorney
General and members of the Royal Bahamas Police Force recently participated in
a Plea Bargain/Workshop.
The two-day training
programme was coordinated by the Office of the Attorney General, the Embassy of
The United States of America and the National Centre for State Courts (NCSC)
and held at the British Colonial Hilton.
Garvin Gaskin, Acting Director of Public
Prosecutions in the Office of the Attorney General, said the programme was
designed to impart detailed knowledge about plea negotiation strategies to
prosecutors, defence counsel and other members of the legal arena, in order to
obtain a more effective judicial system.
He expressed confidence that the facilitators
would effectively demonstrate the procedures, methodologies and the efficacy of
plea negotiations in their country.
“I hold the view that our collaboration on training, in matters
of mutual interest, morphs into material benefits to the administration of
justice in both of our countries,” he said.
Lisa Johnson, Charge de Affaires, US Embassy, was the keynote
speaker at the opening ceremony and JoAnne Richardson, a senior programme
manager at NCSC presented the closing remarks. Cynthia Gibbs, permanent
secretary attended the event.
A team of four criminal
justice experts conducted the workshop including NCSC’s senior programme
manager; a former prosecutor and defence attorney with experience in training
on plea bargaining, and three U.S. active criminal justice professionals, Judge
William Arthur Webb, Assistant U.S. Attorney Kimberly Ann Moore, and Federal
Public Defender, Debra Graces. Ms. Richardson served as lead facilitator.
A release from NCSC states that the
experts assisted in identifying best practices and challenges that will inform
institutional policies, promote change where necessary and broaden approaches
to the administration of justice. Discussions also addressed legislative gaps
and potential amendments to the existing legislation which have impeded the use
of plea bargaining in The Bahamas. The team also facilitated interactive
exercises through the use of hypothetical cases to guide participants through
negotiation and validation of plea agreements under The Bahamas’ legal system.
The workshop concluded with the adoption of a
set of recommendations to ensure the effective implementation and increase the
use of plea bargaining in The Bahamas.
