The issue of criminals intimidating witnesses or having them killed while on bail is one of the main issues addressed by the revised Bail Act which was approved in the Senate on Friday.

The Bail Act 2023, which repeals and replaces the existing Act of 2000, was passed in the Lower House on July 25.

Leader of Government Business in the Upper House, Senator Kamina Johnson Smith, in her closing remarks following a four-hour-long debate, said preventing the intimidation of witnesses by “intimidatory, extortionate and murderous” criminals is one of the main aims of the Bill.

“It’s important for us to have a stronger system that works, that protects communities, that protects witnesses, that has people feeling comfortable to come forward and say what they know because the criminal against whom they will give evidence is not out on bail,” she said.

“That is one of the things that the society wants, that the people of Jamaica want. They want to feel that the system works for them. This is one of the main aims of this Bill and it is one of the things that the people of Jamaica demand of a justice system that works,” she added.

Johnson Smith, who is also foreign affairs and foreign trade minister, said the Administration feels confident that the transparency that is being brought by the Bill “does do very well in respect to the duty of the State to ensure the wider security of the society, the right to life of the wider society as well as of the right to freedom and dignity as may be held by persons accused of criminality”.

The Bill was reviewed by a joint select committee of the Houses of Parliament. The new law will permit a grant of bail at three stages — pre-charge, post-charge, and post-conviction in defined cases.