Criminal
Offences Against the Person Act with abolition of the death penalty in practice
Criminal law rests on the Offences Against the Person Act, the Larceny Act and the Misuse of Drugs Act, with the Criminal Procedure Act governing trial. Indictable matters are tried in the High Court before a jury, and summary matters before a magistrate. Prosecutions are brought by the Director of Public Prosecutions, whose independence is constitutionally protected.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — High Court for indictable trials; Magistrate's Court for summary matters
- Deadline — First appearance: without undue delay after arrest
- Deadline — Summary offence: complaint generally within six months
- Deadline — Appeal against conviction: 21 days from sentence
Governing law
- Offences Against the Person Act
- Criminal Procedure Act
- Misuse of Drugs Act
- Money Laundering (Prevention) Act
In practice
The death penalty remains on the statute book for murder but has not been carried out since 1991, and the Privy Council jurisprudence on delay and on mandatory sentences applies directly because Antigua and Barbuda retained that final appeal. Money laundering and proceeds of crime enforcement are unusually prominent given the size of the offshore financial sector, and restraint orders frequently accompany fraud prosecutions.