The Tribune

The IDB has granted a $20m loan to the Bahamas to help with the fight against crime. Robert Pantzer explains the technical co-operation that paved the way for the new approach.

With a population of only 385,000, The Bahamas has a high rate of violent crime as reflected by the 146 homicides reported by the Royal Bahamas Police Force in 2015.

By comparison, London, which has a population of 8.3 million, reported around 100 homicides during 2014.

The number of sexual assaults and armed robberies are also disproportionately high in The Bahamas. Although the police are very successful in catching criminals, the justice system cannot keep up with these numbers despite opening four new Supreme Courts.

In April 2013, the Bahamas’ Attorney-General requested a grant to pilot methods to reduce the lengthy turnaround times on criminal cases. Ensuring the funding for this technical co-operation was challenging. Among the Inter-American Development Bank’s (IDB) trust funds, the Bahamas is not an “A” candidate to invest in. However, once in execution, we anchored the outcome of this technical co-operation’s pilot case as a precursor or catalyst of a Citizen Security and Justice Programme for The Bahamas.

For the first time, key stakeholders in the criminal justice system engaged in meaningful communication using the IDB team of consultants as facilitators. The work has thereby helped to bridge the gaps among prosecutors, police officers, defence counsel and the judiciary on various legal issues such as case management and witness care.

Through a method of coalition building and stakeholder engagement, expert recommendations, improved communication and intense in-person training, this technical co-operation has helped the beneficiaries, not just to treat the symptoms, but more importantly, to effectively address the cause.

Ultimately, by eliminating the growing backlog and demonstrating a better functioning criminal justice system, the Bahamas will benefit from an improved international reputation. This will help to create conditions for attracting more foreign investments and will contribute to a secure environment for Bahamians, as well as for tourists who visit regularly. This work is triggered by the implementation of the Integrated Justice System software that is assisting justice system stakeholders in managing, scheduling and accessing current information on all cases.

Moreover, through training by IDB experts, the Court Reporting Unit is working to optimise the production of new transcripts.

This technical co-operation has also piloted a new approach in advancing the justice system through strategic communications focusing on the results to be achieved using traditional and new media. It will be critical to encourage greater public participation as witnesses and jurors, educate the public about how their justice system operates and alerting defendants (who accept responsibility for their offences) to the benefits of pleading guilty rather than further contributing to the backlog by insisting on a trial.

By addressing these obstacles, The Bahamas is developing a more efficient, fair and integrated criminal justice system - solving issues such as providing new courts to hear more cases; setting up new technology for greater efficiency; and co-ordination and training for the judiciary, prosecutors and Court Reporting Unit.

Beyond generating knowledge for the Office of the Attorney-General, the work of this technical co-operation can become a model for how we engage with similar issues in the region and beyond. The top-notch consultants’ team, led by Dame Linda Dobbs DBE, has done excellent work, advising the Office of the Attorney-General on measures to reduce the backlog of pending legal cases and to assist in implementing reforms.

Although the Bahamian context is unique, the challenges faced by criminal justice system stakeholders are not. Therefore, partnering with the IDB and its experts has been an important step. But the government cannot do this alone; it will need the help of its citizens - citizens who dream of their Bahamas as a safer place - to share in the work and perform their civic duties as witnesses and jurors.

The system cannot improve without their participation.

Robert Pantzer is an Inter-American Development Bank Modernization of the State Specialist based in the Bahamas office. For more information on IDB projects in the Caribbean visit: http://blogs.iadb.org/caribbean-dev-trends/