The Antigua and Barbuda authorities introduced plans to introduce laws on the subsequent Parliament sitting that can expunge felony information for people convicted of possessing small quantities of hashish and grant them official pardons.
Following the weekly Cupboard assembly, a press release revealed that Legal professional Basic and Minister of Authorized Affairs, Steadroy Cuttie Benjamin, has been tasked with drafting the invoice. The laws will supply pardons to individuals convicted of possessing lower than 15 grams of marijuana.
The proposed legislation may even apply to people convicted beneath the Public Well being Modification Act in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, aiming to clear their information as effectively.
Moreover, the Cupboard agreed that Prime Minister Gaston Browne will advise Governor Basic Sir Rodney Williams to train his constitutional energy beneath Part 84(1) of the Structure to pardon inmates at the moment serving sentences at His Majesty’s Jail who’re actively engaged within the Dwelling Development Programme for the Indigent (HAPPI) and have proven real rehabilitation.
“Cupboard emphasised that the felony information of those people can be expunged, permitting them a contemporary begin and a chance to proceed contributing positively to society. This motion aligns with the Antigua and Barbuda Labour Occasion Authorities’s dedication to rehabilitation and reintegration,” the assertion stated.
The federal government additionally introduced that upon receiving their pardons, these people can be provided full-time employment throughout the HAPPI programme. Moreover, Cupboard accredited a grant of EC$500,000 to help HAPPI’s ongoing efforts to construct and reconstruct houses for the much less lucky.
This initiative displays the federal government’s broader dedication to social justice, rehabilitation, and neighborhood improvement.
