Bridgetown.
Barbados’ ability to seize the ill-gotten gains from criminal activity through civil procedures will soon go before Cabinet for consideration.
This was disclosed by Attorney General and Minister of Home Affairs, Adriel Brathwaite, who said that over the last two years, Barbados was working with the American Embassy to champion the effectiveness of a civil asset recovery regime.
He made these comments yesterday during a media interview, before the start of a Civil Asset Recovery one-day workshop at Courtyard by Marriott, in Hastings, Christ Church.
“It is my hope that within the next week we can take the proposal to Cabinet. This workshop culminates almost two years of discussions,” Brathwaite said.
He explained that although Barbados had a Proceeds of Crime Act, the proposed civil asset recovery regime was based on civil procedure and would prove to be faster and more effective.
The Attorney General stated that it also offered lawmakers an alternative to the criminal procedure, which first required that someone be charged and taken through the criminal process, before their assets could be seized.
“With the civil procedure, within the proposed legislation, where someone’s wealth is inconsistent with their means, and there is reasonable grounds to suspect the wealth is from proceeds of crime, the civil procedure allows us quicker access to those assets,” he said.
Brathwaite added that there was a proposal that assets seized from such ill-gotten gains be used to address issues of substance abuse and to support the work of the police force. However, he noted that under the present system in Barbados such funds went back into the Treasury.
The Attorney General also told members of the media that there were concerns over the constitutionality of civil forfeiture, and stressed that it was important to ensure the right legislative framework was in place.
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