Criminal Law Project
8 December 2009
Amongst the persons leaving the Island on the RMS St. Helena on 2 December was Mr John Wilson, who has been engaged as a draftsman to produce two major pieces of draft legislation. The first will be a Crimes Bill, setting out in a local Ordinance the law relating to all the main criminal offences (such as homicide, assault, theft, and criminal damage). This will remove the need to refer to English law, and make it easier for Lay Advocates to find the relevant laws when needed.
The second Bill will be a complete re-write of our Criminal Procedure Ordinance, which is over 30 years old and, despite a series of ad hoc amendments, is no longer fit for its purpose.
The project will last for almost a year, and is funded by the Foreign & Commonwealth Office under the Overseas Territories Project Fund. Having completed a two-week familiarisation visit, during which Mr Wilson met key stakeholders including the Chief Justice, the Justices of the Peace, and the Public Solicitor, the remainder of the work will be carried out in the United Kingdom.
Kenneth I Baddon Attorney General 8 December 2009.