Legislation aimed at stamping out gang activity by increasing penalties for gang related offences was passed in the House of Assembly.All parties agreed the Criminal Code Amendment Act 2012 is a positive step towards discouraging gang membership.But the Opposition said that a new offence included in the Bill aimed at prosecuting gang leaders would never see the light of the courtroom because existing laws perform the same task more efficiently.Explaining the legislation in the House yesterday, National Security Minister Wayne Perinchief said the Bill lays out a legal definition for an unlawful gang, and allows increased penalties for crimes relating to gang activity.Similar to legislation for Increased Penalty Zones for drug possession near schools and parks, the legislation threatens offenders with longer terms of imprisonment or larger fines if the courts find that the offence was gang-related.“The Bill requires the court to first determine the basic sentence for the offence committed and where the offence falls within the definition of unlawful gang activity, an additional element of imprisonment or fine is then imposed.”The legislation also makes it an offence for a person to instruct, directly or indirectly, someone involved in gang activity to commit an offence.Mr Perinchief said the new offence is aimed at high ranking gang members, who may not pull the trigger themselves.“Too often the clever distance maintained by gang leaders from ground level operations frustrates the efforts of law enforcement,” Mr Perinchief said.“Those who literally call the shots escape prosecution because they are miles from the scene of a crime that they in fact have orchestrated.“With this bill comes a clear means by which to ensure that those who direct and instruct others in unlawful acts will also face consequences.”One Bermuda Alliance MP Mark Pettingill applauded the spirt of the bill, but he questioned if anyone would ever be charged in a courtroom with the new offence aimed at gang leaders.Mr Pettingill, a practicing defence lawyer, said that the proposed legislation would require prosecutors to prove that the offender was part of a gang and that the offence was gang related.But under Section 27 of the Criminal Code, those who are party to an offence are already deemed principal offenders and are subject to the same penalty as the person who committed the act without the prosecutor needing to prove any gang connection.“If you can get over the hurdle that this person made the order, you have got it,” he said of Section 27.“You don’t have to jump through a lot of hoops to go where you want to go.”Between the two options, he believed that prosecutors would choose the existing legislation rather than those in the bill being debated, which he described as “technical and burdensome.”Opposition Leader Craig Cannonier said the legislation was another step forward, and said much has been done to strengthen the police’s powers to combat crime and discourage people from criminal activity.However, he said little seems to have been done to get people who have made mistakes back on the right track, saying many of the people coming out of prison are coming out “hardened.”“There is still the curative side,” Mr Cannonier said. “I implore the Government to examine that, to move quickly with the curative side. We are exercising the strong arm of the law. It’s there.“We need to explore the curative side of things. This Government hasn’t done that. There’s nothing after they come out of prison. Nothing.”Mr Cannonier said that when the legislation’s “sunset clause” comes into effect in 2015 Bermuda will still be tackling the gang problem, and the only way to change that is to change the mindset of gang members.“Our Government is putting in preventive measures. Those are great things,” he said. “We are now seeing the strong arm of the law, but let me say the recidivism rates are 50 percent for a reason.“You cannot legislate behaviour. You can’t. That’s why we need to bring everything together to ensure that we change the mind set of these young men and women involved in this gang activity.”Families Minister Glenn Blakeney responded that there are already curative measures in place, noting specifically the transitional living programme.The Minister also noted the numerous preventive programmes created by Government, including Mirrors, Coaching for Success and Residential Treatment Centres for those young people who may be diverting from the straight and narrow.“This is something that we are committed to through this Government and we will continue to be committed to it,” Mr Blakeney said.