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Govt. looking at wider ticketing powers

Offenders and enforcers of the law will benefit from new legislation designed to bring part of Bermuda's justice system into the 21st Century.

The regulations will revolutionise the way many offences are dealt with and speed up the time taken to bring cases to court.

In addition, the Police and Attorney General's Chambers will have their administration workload cut -- freeing them to concentrate on other important duties.

Part of the Prosecution of Offences Bill, it will slash red tape by allowing Government officers and Marine Police to issue on the spot tickets and fines for all manner of offences.

Dog wardens, health and safety officers, park rangers, environmental health and numerous other departments will be able to cut back on the paperwork by giving tickets similar to those issued by traffic Police.

It will also reduce court backlogs, allowing some offences to be dealt with by instant fines payable without appearance before a Magistrate.

And it will decrease delays in cases coming to court because of the current lengthy procedure for processing offences.

Chief Inspector Roger Kendall, who has worked at the heart of the new bill, said it would take Bermuda ahead of the UK and US.

"It will help every individual department, but it is really going to impact at the Attorney General's Chambers, their workload on this will be null and void,'' he said.

"It has been a few years in the making. For the Police it means it is going to be faster from offence to judgment in the courts -- rather than taking months, it will be weeks.'' The legislation was due to come in last year but was put on hold as the Progressive Labour Party took office.

The Government is now looking at the bill and has assured Police that it will be top of the list when it has been cleared -- becoming law by the end of the year.

Ticket powers to be widened For most departments, it will mean being issued with a book which will detail offences and the relevant law, leaving staff to fill out a ticket similar to a traffic violation.

In addition, the Marine Police will be able to issue tickets for other marine offences detailed in their handbooks on the spot. Previously officers had to obtain details from offenders, enter the information into a computer at their offices, and then send the data to the Attorney General.

From there a summons may be issued, requiring Police to serve it on a person, months after the offence -- making identifying and locating the suspect harder.

With the new legislation, the offender will be handed a copy of the ticket, detailing a court date and the original will be forwarded to the Attorney General, prior to prosecution.