JAMAICA | Sledgehammer on Justice Scales: Jess Demands Parliamentary Firearms Act Fix

The Opposition says the Government cannot publicly defend a gun law it is privately trying to repair, as the Chief Justice warns the Gun Court backlog is creeping back.

KINGSTON, Jamaica,September 21, 2026— Justice Minister Delroy Chuck went to church last Sunday and, in effect, preached two sermons. In one, he encouraged accused persons to consider plea bargaining, holding out the prospect of reduced or non-custodial sentences and, in time, a clean record. In the other, he defended the very law that the Chief Justice says has made pleading guilty to a gun charge an irrational choice.

Opposition Spokesperson on Justice Zuleika Jess, MP, has pounced on that contradiction. In a statement issued today, she rejected the Minister’s defence of the Firearms (Prohibition, Restriction and Regulation) Act, 2022, as an attempt to shield an impractical and legally flawed policy, and demanded urgent, bipartisan amendments to restore judicial discretion, encourage plea bargaining and deliver swift justice.

“The primary duty of Parliament is to pass laws that deliver actual justice, not institutional absurdity,” Jess said.

What the Minister said

Addressing the Eastern Region Assize Church Service at East Queen Street Baptist Church in downtown Kingston, which marked the opening of the 2026–2027 legal year, Chuck confirmed that the Act’s mandatory minimum sentences are under review but signalled that repeal is unlikely. He told the judiciary that the security forces and “a number of my colleagues feel that the Act is working,” and warned that the Government does not want to send any signal that it will relent on enforcement.

The numbers he leans on are real. According to the Jamaica Constabulary Force’s Serious Crimes Report, 275 murders were recorded up to July, 23 per cent fewer than the same period in 2025, while shootings fell by 27 per cent. Nobody, Jess included, is dismissing that decline.

Correlation is not causation

What the Opposition disputes is the credit. Jess called the attribution of falling murders to mandatory minimums misguided and legally unsupported. Peter Champagnie, KC, went further, saying anyone crediting the 2022 Act lives “in Wonderland,” arguing that while murders have fallen to historic lows, the evidence shows no corresponding drop in gun-related offences since the law was passed.

The 22-year-old’s arithmetic

The sharpest critique comes from the bench itself. Chief Justice Bryan Sykes has warned that the Gun Court in Kingston and St Andrew, once declared backlog-free, is seeing cases pile up again. His logic is brutally simple: if a conviction carries the same 15-year floor whether an accused pleads or fights, there is nothing to gain by pleading. “What does it matter whether I plead guilty or not?” he asked.

The court’s own figures appear to bear him out. The 2025 statistics show that convictions and guilty pleas accounted for just 20.1 per cent of High Court Division charges — the third consecutive annual decline. For shooting with intent, the rate was barely one in ten.

“Justice delayed by a choked court system is justice denied to the victims of gun violence.”— Zuleika Jess, MP

A promise past its due date

To be fair, the Government has not been deaf to the problem. In February 2025, plea-negotiation amendments to the Firearms Act were listed among its legislative priorities, with RJR News reporting they were expected in Parliament before March 2026. That deadline has come and gone. Eighteen months on, the Minister’s word is still “consideration.”

It is this gap that Jess calls a glaring policy contradiction: a ministry that concedes the law needs fixing to allow plea negotiations, led by a minister who insists in public that it is working. The Advocates’ Association of Jamaica has added its weight, writing to the Senate in July to urge that judges be allowed to depart from minimums where justice demands, while severe penalties are kept for the worst offenders.

The Government’s case, fairly stated

Chuck’s anxiety is not frivolous. By his own account in January, guns were used in 73 per cent of killings last year. In a country where the illegal firearm is the engine of the murder rate, the symbolism of any perceived retreat matters.

Jess does not contest the premise. “No one is suggesting that Jamaica should go soft on illegal firearms,” she said, pledging support for an unyielding approach to gun production, trafficking and possession. “However, using a sledgehammer to smash the scales of justice undermines the constitutional doctrine of separation of powers and robs judges of their necessary legal discretion.”

Where the middle ground lies

Strip away the partisan heat and the two sides are closer than they sound. Both want severe penalties; both, on the record, want plea negotiations. The real dispute is urgency.

“Minister Chuck must stop using public speaking engagements to play politics with national security and the rule of law,” Jess said, calling for “immediate, common-sense amendments to the Firearms Act that strike a balance between severe penalties for gun crimes and a functional justice system that encourages timely plea deals.” The Opposition says it stands ready for immediate bipartisan dialogue.

The Minister says the matter is under consideration. The Gun Court’s docket suggests consideration is a luxury the system can no longer afford. The sermon is over; the backlog is growing.

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