Lawyers defend Firearms Act protest

DEFENCE attorney Peter Champagnie, King’s Counsel (KC) on Monday pushed back at suggestions that last week’s protests by lawyers about the 2022 Firearms Act were underpinned by financial motives and political affiliations.

“This meeting and this gathering, in some instances, has taken on a political flavour; it is not about JLP (Jamaica Labour Party), PNP (People’s National Party) or any P for that matter; it is about justice and fairness and that is why we are here,” he said during a news conference called by the Jamaican Bar Association as lawyers upheld a pledge to withdraw their services from all criminal courts islandwide in continuation of their push for amendments to the Firearms Prohibition Restriction and Regulation Act 2022.

“We are not here to say we want more cases to be tried so we can get more money and fees, and all that; it doesn’t work like that. The canons of the profession that guide us say that we have a right and an obligation to make recommendations for the improvement of the law, modernisation, and our contribution is in this vein,” Champagnie declared.