‘Silent’ attorneys declare decisions on gun crimes must be left to judges

Arguing that the law must be applied with regard to the circumstances of individual cases, attorney Peter Champagnie is urging that the debate around Jamaica’s firearms legislation not be reduced to a political issue.

“It cannot be a Cinderella approach, not one size fits all,” Champagnie said, as members of the legal profession yesterday staged a silent protest at the Supreme Court in downtown Kingston, where they called for changes to the Firearms Act.

The attorneys gathered in the well of the court and stood in silence as they sought to draw attention to concerns surrounding the legislation, particularly the mandatory minimum sentence and its impact on judicial discretion.