Barbados

Barbados Parliament passes constitutional amendment eliminating mandatory death penalty sentences

The Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2019, which no longer makes it mandatory for murderers to be sentenced to the death penalty, was passed last week in both Houses of Parliament. In January 2018, the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) ruled that the mandatory death sentence was unconstitutional. In probably the most significant judgment to arise from the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) so far, the region’s highest court has unanimously declared the mandatory death penalty unconstitutional in Barbados, finally settling an issue which has occupied domestic and international tribunals for almost 15 years.