2 weeks ago
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The Government will not permit individuals to misuse stand-your-ground legislation to commit unlawful acts, says Minister of Legal Affairs Saddam Hosein.
Speaking at the United National Congress’ consultation on the proposed legislation at the Caldrac Recreation Club, Dow Village, California, on Wednesday, Hosein stressed that the law must be balanced to ensure exceptions are in place so that in all cases where deadly force is used, individuals cannot escape justice without scrutiny.
He explained that force cannot be used against someone who has a legitimate right to be on the property.
“You have a husband and wife living in the same house. If the husband wants to kill the wife, or the wife wants to kill the husband, both have the right to be in the home. They cannot both claim that they are entitled to use deadly force against each other. However, if the husband tries to kill the wife with a gun and she retaliates, she has the right to defend herself.
“This is because there are instances of domestic violence, and such matters are for the courts and the prosecution to examine,” Hosein said.
He emphasised that individuals cannot use “grossly disproportionate” force, such as incapacitating an intruder and then attempting to dismember them.
“You cannot do those things—it is not necessary,” he added.
Hosein also warned that householders cannot use deadly force against police officers acting lawfully with a warrant or other legal authority.
“What that does is give criminals a license to kill police when they come into your home,” he cautioned.
Hosein said the new legislation will create the offence of home invasion, codify the law on self-defence and grant property owners the right to defend their homes.
Citing statistics, he noted that there were 2,613 robberies in 2023 and 2,399 in 2024. Larceny of dwelling house cases fell from 120 in 2023 to 112 in 2024. Murders rose from 577 in 2023 to 625 in 2024.
“We were faced with an epidemic where criminals were invading people’s homes, taking their possessions by force, beating, killing and injuring them—and there was no offence called home invasion on the law books. For ten years, the last administration did nothing about it,” Hosein said.
Under the new law, those convicted of home invasion could face a fine of $500,000 and up to 20 years’ imprisonment. Members of gangs and those attacking the young or elderly could face fines of $750,000 and up to 25 years in prison, and if the victim dies, the perpetrator could face the death penalty.
Hosein added that under current law, a homeowner must explain why they attacked someone who entered their home unlawfully.
“This UNC Government will restore citizens’ right to enjoy their homes,” he said.
He confirmed that under the upcoming legislation, occupants will be allowed to use deadly force against home invaders, and that homeowners can also authorise others in the house to defend the property.
The minister accused the Opposition People’s National Movement of misleading the public into believing that the Government has no plan to tackle crime.
“They have a fake narrative that the Government has no anti-crime plan. It’s one of two things: either they can’t read, or they’re out to lie and mislead,” Hosein asserted.
He said the Cabinet had adopted the UNC manifesto as Government policy and that the stand-your-ground law was not a spur-of-the-moment initiative but part of their outlined plan.
“This was our policy. It was in the pipeline, and it will be delivered,” he said.
Addressing the current State of Emergency (SoE), Hosein argued that it was necessary, unlike the one enacted in December 2024 by the former administration. He said that SoE happened on the night of a party in Tobago.
“Stuart Young came to Parliament and admitted they decided on declaring an SoE that night. That is why the Attorney General said the last SoE was based on nothing. We had certain information in our possession, and we had no choice but to act decisively to destabilise what we considered a criminal syndicate,” he explained.
English (US) ·