Criminal
Penal Code with the death penalty reserved for the worst cases
The Penal Code, Chap. 84 sets out the substantive offences, with procedure in the Criminal Procedure Code. Following Privy Council authority, the mandatory death penalty was held unconstitutional and the Bahamian legislature responded in 2011 by defining categories of murder for which the death penalty remains available, though no execution has been carried out since 2000. Prosecutions are conducted by the Office of the Attorney General and the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — Magistrates' Courts for summary matters; Supreme Court for indictable trials
- Deadline — First appearance: within 48 hours of arrest where practicable
- Deadline — Bail for serious offences: restricted by the Bail Act, with reasons required
Governing law
- Penal Code, Chap. 84
- Criminal Procedure Code, Chap. 91
- Bail Act, Chap. 103
- Dangerous Drugs Act
In practice
Sentencing in murder cases now requires the court to consider whether the case falls within the statutory categories and then to conduct an individualised assessment, so mitigation evidence is central where it was once irrelevant. The Bail Act has been amended repeatedly to restrict bail for serious firearm and drug offences, and those restrictions are themselves a recurring subject of constitutional challenge.