GLENDEVON, St James — National Security Minister Dr Horace Chang has weighed in on a recent ruling by the United Kingdom Privy Council that the mandatory death penalty in Trinidad and Tobago is not unconstitutional. He said he is happy with the ruling.

The constitutionality of Trinidad’s automatic death sentences imposed on anyone convicted of murder was challenged by Jay Chandler, a prisoner.

Whilst Jamaica has apparently done away with the death penalty, a sentence that Jamaicans have been calling for the return of, Dr Chang told reporters — following his donation of 50 tablets to the Glendevon Primary and Infant School in St James on Tuesday — that mandatory life for the use of firearms is what Jamaica is currently looking at.

“You know, I am satisfied that the Privy Council has ruled in a manner that I’m happy with, but, in fact, the legislation that we are now arguing over is mandatory life for the use of firearms,” stated Dr Chang in response to questions by the Jamaica Observer.

The minister pointed out that the “death penalty is always debatable. There are some of us who support it in circumstances where they are found guilty of causing death to another citizen. There are others who feel differently because the death penalty is a finality,” the minister said.

“When you take a big man who sees himself as a don, you put him before a court, before a jury you tried and find him guilty and lock him away, it diminishes his stature in the community. It sends a signal that we are in control and I think that’s a very important message to the wider community. To just find him and kill him, whether it is extrajudicial or judicial, it has a finality to the next one who says all right, I will take my risk and go on. But to shame them like that dramatically by putting them away for life (in prison) by embarrassing them, belittling them, and diminishing them, I think is a very important part of turning away those who might be seeking to use the gun as a source of employment,” added Dr Chang.

The minister argued that catching a gunman in the act of killing is slim and therefore, “to get a killer off the streets you have to catch him with his firearm, and therefore talking about giving them the kind of sentence that they were getting at one stage — three years here, a year and a half and they are out in 24 months — they come out more seasoned with a bigger gang to kill more people in a very short time.”

The minister said the solution to the problem is two-fold.

“We discussed the one about social investment but in the immediate situation, we have to apprehend the killers and when we apprehend them and they are found guilty, they must be locked away for a long time so that they cannot come back and recycle and give the police problems,” stated Dr Chang.

Dr Chang, who stated that there are several mandatory sentencing laws around, said there is nothing fundamentally wrong or unconstitutional about laying out sentence guidelines.

In fact, the security minister disclosed that he was always told by senior jurists that he is a legislator and his responsibility is to provide the legislation with the required guidelines and indicators so that the court can carry out the sentencing.

Dr Chang pointed to the amendment to the trafficking in person legislation and several other pieces of legislation which have laid out minimum levels for sentencing.