After a Supreme Court justice expressed concern over the maximum penalty for incest in The Bahamas, Attorney General Allyson Maynard-Gibson said she asked her advisors to benchmark the penalty in other jurisdictions.
"I can definitively say that I've asked the persons who advise the attorney general to benchmark other jurisdictions and to see whether we comport with international best practices in terms of sentencing for this particular offense," Maynard-Gibson said in a recent interview.
During the sentencing of a man convicted of incest in relation to the "rape" of his 65-year-old mother, Justice Indra Charles suggested that lawmakers review the law.
She sentenced the man to eight years in prison, but said he will serve five years, as she took into account that he was on remand since January 2012.
Currently, an adult who is convicted of incest with another adult faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.
"It is an insult," Charles said. "The legislature of this country needs to quickly look at the penalty."
Maynard-Gibson said, "when a judge speaks from the bench, we have to take note".
"I'm grateful to Justice Charles for pointing out her concerns," Maynard-Gibson said.
"If the advice coming back to me, having benchmarked other jurisdictions, [is] that their penalties are higher, significantly higher, I would then take the matter up with my colleagues to see whether or not it was a matter of government policy that they would wish to increase the penalty based upon international best practices and standards."
In Jamaica, incest carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.
Trinidad and Tobago also imposes a life sentence for incest.
In Barbados, if an adult commits incest with someone under the age of 14, they can face a life sentence. But if incest is committed between an adult and someone over 14, the maximum sentence is 10 years.

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