THE Joint Select Committee of Parliament studying six anti-crime bills, which resulted from bipartisan discussions on the crime wave earlier this year, is expected to table a report in about three weeks.

The committee agreed at a meeting at Gordon House last Friday, that it would have one final meeting to sign off on a draft report. But the report is not likely to be drafted within two weeks. It would take another week to reach the House.

One outstanding issue which has been left hanging, is the proposal from Opposition members that the committee should recommend to Parliament an amendment to the proposal in one of the bills – the Bail (Interim Provisions for Specified Offences) Act 2008, which gives the police the right to detain suspects held in connection with certain charges for up to 60 days.

Opposition senators AJ Nicholson and KD Knight are supporting an amendment proposed by Knight, that the suspect should be taken to court as quickly as possible after being detained, for the judge to determine whether the 60-day provision should apply.

Other Opposition members, including Senator Mark Golding and MP Fitz Jackson, have favoured Knight’s proposal

Government members, while giving merit to the suggestion, believe that the convention guiding electoral reform – that bipartisan proposals should stand in Parliament – and are opposed.

Senator Nicholson says that Knight’s proposal offers the best chance of compromise on the issue, as a number of bodies and individuals who have made submissions to the committee feel that the judge’s discretion in granting bail should not be removed.

He said that the idea was to try to ensure that persons with no evidence against them, or who are “reasonably entitled” to bail, would get bail.

“When they are taken into custody, they are brought to court within a short period of time. This will give the prosecutors a chance to say whether they would agree to bail or not, instead of being strict in saying that the person should be detained for 60 days,” Nicholson explained.

But Government member, Pearnel Charles, the minister of labour and social security, made an impassioned plea for the six bills to be supported by consensus, as the Parliament’s answer to the wave of brutal crimes.

Charles said that while there was some merit to Nicholson’s presentation, there was a greater problem to deal with.

“This is the exact reason we are here: People get bail and go out and kill off the witnesses. They go after the policeman’s wife, the witness’ mother. We must take the chance and see whether this is going to work,” Charles said.

He noted that the bills were for a limited period of 12 months, after which they would be reviewed and any necessary changes made.

“We have tried everything: Green Paper; new minister; new government; new prime minister; new commissioner of police; new brigadier; and a new DPP. We want new laws, and we are going to have new courage and new strength and call for new co-operation to go after these guys who are raping our babies and leaving their bodies to be eaten by crows and dogs,” Charles said.

“It is safer to make a mistake and arrest an innocent man, than to make a mistake and cause an innocent woman to be murdered, raped or sent to her grave,” he said.

Chairman of the committee, Senator Dorothy Lightbourne, who is the attorney general and minister of justice, however, felt that the committee should look at the proposal. She asked the committee whether its proposal should be included in the final report. They agreed.

The full title of the controversial bill is “an Act to make interim provision, in relation to the grant of bail in specified circumstances, for accused persons to be detained for up to 60 days on certain charges”.

It proposes that persons who are held on gun-related crimes, and who have previous conviction for a similar offence, not be entitled to bail until the expiration of 60 days.