00:00As the Bail Amendment Bill 2026 was taken to the Senate, Minister of Defense Wayne Sturge expressed the same concern he put before the lower house on January 30th.
00:11That is, that while the 2024 amendment enforced that people charged for murder, certain firearms-related offenses, and other serious crimes must show exceptional circumstances why bail should be granted,
00:24Section 5.5 of that amendment is ambiguous and doesn't warrant this.
00:29He says that sub-glose enables an accused to apply for bail if no evidence is gathered after 180 days, and if the accused is not tried within a year, without showing exceptional circumstances.
00:41Sturge has taken a position on contributions made in the lower house.
00:45The opposition in the other place circulated a number of amendments, none of which dealt with 5.5, if I recall correctly.
00:55So they accepted that they had bungled the entire thing, and the only criminal lawyer among them, because there's not one on the opposition bench today in the Senate,
01:12who practice criminal law either in the High Court or Court of Appeal, or whose names feature or are of note in any case of note.
01:24But he goes further to reject certain suggestions, including that by Laventhal West MP, Attorney at Law Karim Marcel, pertaining to the A-Close Bill.
01:34That perhaps we should consult the Law Association. We do not believe that it was necessary.
01:40Sturge has taken the Law Association to task for raising the issue of what it felt were exorbitant fines in the Zoso legislation,
01:48saying first-tier law students know that a court need not apply the maximum fine pertaining to any offense,
01:54further suggesting that they should read Court of Appeal and Privy Council judgments to keep abreast.
01:59Apparently that doesn't apply to the Law Association, because if they did so, they would have known about the case,
02:05and it's somewhat old, the case of Francis and Heinz.
02:09So no, we did not consult the Law Association, and no, we do not intend to in the very near future.
02:18Because we have the expertise of Senator Choate, Senior Counsel, who has a wealth of experience in the criminal justice system.
02:26Sadly, we can't rely on anyone below.
02:28As for judges being part of a joint select committee to consider the bill,
02:32Sturge cites a conflict of interest in relation to the separation of powers.
02:37It's not worth mentioning the other amendments they circulated.
02:42None of them made an ounce of sense.
02:45Opposition Senator Farris Al-Rawi says those statements which imply that parliamentarians
02:50without expertise in the field that is being debated are disqualified from contributing,
02:55make a mockery of the parliament.
02:57The minister has just taken us through a tour of insults,
03:03recommendations, loaded with condescension,
03:07and has invited us simply to just accept the bill as it is.
03:12While Sturge says the special majority considerations have been removed,
03:16Al-Rawi says every amendment to the Bail Act since 1994 required a three-fifths majority,
03:22and he feels no differently about this one.
03:25The fact is, a three-fifths majority is necessary in our respectful view
03:30because the bill proposes an ouster of the court's jurisdiction in the section 5.5 that we seek to amend in clause 4.
03:41That is because we are anchoring only two occasions in law where a person charged for murder can approach the court for consideration of bail.
03:57He notes that enshrined in the Constitution is a right to freedom, life, and other rights.
04:03Al-Rawi outlines several areas in conflict with the Parent Act.
04:07The law is so badly drafted before us.
04:10The minister has come to post bail, cash over $30,000 when the law conflicts and says it must be under 10,
04:18not amending that section, so you go into confusion, unimplied repeal,
04:23and the minister has confined himself to a certified copy of a deed.
04:28So everything else in Section 12, subsection 4, out the door,
04:32because the minister is so brilliant in his presentation today,
04:35and so condescending to the opposition and to other persons in society,
04:39including the Law Association, we must just take it at face value.
04:44No, sir.
04:45Alicia Boucher, TV6 News.
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