Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne has called for the establishment of an independent committee to review sentencing for firearm and serious violent offences, repeat offending and the wider criminal justice system.

In a letter dated August 13 to Chief Justice of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court Margaret Price Findlay, Browne said the review was a matter of “grave and urgent national concern”.

Browne recently condemned the sentencing practices of some judges as he said they have made criminal justice system a “revolving door” for violent offenders.  

Browne proposed a three-member committee with an immediate focus on Antigua and Barbuda, while leaving open the possibility of expanding the review across the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court jurisdiction.

Citing the December 2025 report Pathway to Policy: Firearms Trafficking and Public Health in the Caribbean, Browne noted that firearms were used in 86 per cent of homicides across CARICOM member and associate states in 2023 and 2024.

He said published data placed Antigua and Barbuda’s homicide rate at 2.4 per 100,000 people in 2019, rising to 10.8 in 2022, 10.7 in 2023 and 12.8 in 2024.

Browne also raised concerns about repeat offending, saying security officials had advised that approximately 250 people with previous convictions had subsequently been arrested and charged in connection with further serious offences.

He stressed that the figure does not represent findings of guilt in pending cases, but said it was nevertheless a warning that needed to be examined across the criminal justice system.

The proposed review would examine sentencing outcomes for firearm and other serious violent offences over a five-year period and assess them against existing legislation, the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court Sentencing Guidelines and relevant appellate decisions.

It would also examine factors including guilty plea discounts, aggravating and mitigating circumstances, previous convictions, time spent on remand and the totality principle.

Beyond sentencing, the committee would look at the wider criminal justice process, including prosecution and charging practices, access to criminal histories and pre-sentence information, bail and remand, prison release, supervision and rehabilitation.

Browne said the review should also identify any gaps between legislative policy and sentencing outcomes and recommend reforms where necessary.

He proposed that former Caribbean Court of Justice President Adrian Saunders chair the committee, subject to his agreement.

Browne said he had consulted former CCJ President Sir Dennis Byron and CARICOM High-Level Representative on Law and Criminal Justice Godfrey Smith, who were both prepared to assist the committee.

The Prime Minister is asking for an initial response from the Chief Justice by August 20, with the committee’s membership and terms of reference settled by August 31.

He proposed that the committee provide interim observations within 30 days of its appointment and submit its final report within 90 days.

Browne acknowledged that the review must respect judicial independence, but argued that this should not prevent the elected government from examining sentencing outcomes where they raise public-safety concerns.

“The proper response is not to trade generalisations,” Browne wrote. “It is to subject the record to rigorous independent scrutiny and determine whether legislative policy, sentencing practice and criminal justice administration are operating coherently.”