Symister reminds AG Benjamin that UPP Administration enacted expungement legislation 11 years ago

The word out of Cabinet is that the Browne Administration intends to go to
Parliament in July to pass a law that allows for the expungement of criminal
records for persons convicted of the possession of small amounts of
marijuana.

But attorney Leon Chaku Symister is scoffing at this announcement and
advising Attorney-General Sir Steadroy Benjamin to wake up, as this is already
in place.

“A simple search of the Laws of Antigua and Barbuda will disclose that, 11
years ago, the United Progressive Party Administration enacted The Criminal
Records (Rehabilitation of Offenders) Act, No. 19 of 2013, which allows for what
the Gaston Browne Administration is contemplating now,” Symister tells REAL
News.

“What needs to be addressed, however, is the continued conviction of persons
found in possession of small amounts of cannabis,” Symister, the Party’s
spokesman on legal matters, notes.

For example, he says, “although the current law provides for a person to have
up to 15 grammes of cannabis in his possession legally, a person found with
30 grammes of cannabis is convicted of having 30 grammes – although he is
entitled to have 15 grammes.

“Rather than addressing this,” Symister chides, “the Government allows the
conviction, then allows it to be spent.”

Instead of wasting time to reinvent the wheel, Benjamin should be looking to
correct other matters, the attorney says.

“The attorney-general needs to address the absence of an appeals tribunal at
the Department of Immigration and at the Development Control Authority and
the appointment of an information commissioner,” Symister urges.

“And when will a chief magistrate and a director of public prosecutions
actually be appointed?” he asks Benjamin.