Death Penalty Remains An Option In Certain Circumstances, Says Senior Counsel Astaphan

Senior Counsel Anthony Astaphan addressed the topic of the death penalty during an appearance on the Browne and Browne show over the weekend.

He discussed key legal precedents, including the Pratt and Morgan case, in which the Privy Council ruled that it was unconstitutional to execute a prisoner who had been on death row for more than five years without the sentence being carried out.

Astaphan clarified that the only instance where the death penalty itself was declared unconstitutional was in the Peter Hughes case, which challenged the constitutionality of the mandatory death sentence.

Representing the Attorneys General of the OECS in a related matter in St. Vincent, he noted that the Court of Appeal ruled—by majority—that the mandatory death sentence was unconstitutional.

However, the court upheld the validity of a discretionary death sentence in extreme cases. The Privy Council later affirmed this decision.

He emphasized that while the mandatory imposition of the death penalty is no longer permissible, judges in criminal courts still have the discretion to impose the death sentence in cases where it may be deemed justified.

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