St Kitts Assembly to consider alternative sentencing and admissibility of photographic evidence

Monday, October 27, 2003

BASSETERRE, St Kitts: Draft legislation empowering the Courts to pass non custodial sentencing such as discharges, suspended sentences, probation orders and community service orders will be debated in the St. Kitts and Nevis National Assembly on Wednesday.

The Alternative Sentencing Powers Act will also enable certain offences to be dealt with by mediation instead of criminal prosecution and set out principles to be followed by the Courts when exercising the new powers of sentencing.

Legislation providing for photographs to be admitted, as evidence in the Magistrate and High Courts will also be debated in the Assembly on October 29th. 

The Admissibility in Evidence of Photographs Act provides for photographs to be admitted in evidence in lieu of items.

The proposed legislation seeks to empower the Director of Public Prosecutions, upon application by the victim of the crime, order the release of an item if the continued retention of the item would lead to major inconvenience or significant disadvantage to the victim of the crime.

Before the item is released, the Director of Public Prosecutions shall give the defendant or the defendant's counsel, an opportunity to examine the item and to take photographs of the item, if they so wish.

It will be the duty of the Registrar to ensure that the item referred to is properly photographed and in addition, shall cause all significant features of the item that shall lead to its identity to be recorded before the item is released.

When an item is released, then the photograph of that item shall be admitted in evidence and be treated as if the item was before the court, and the jury shall be entitled to give the item the same weight to the item in the photograph as if the item was before the court.

However, the photograph shall not be admissible in evidence unless it is accompanied by a document in which all the significant features of the item were recorded and verified by an affidavit sworn to by the Registrar or such other person as may be authorised for the purpose.

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