THE conviction rate for serious offences has increased to almost 80 percent, Attorney General Carl Bethel said yesterday. Mr Bethel, speaking during a ceremony marking the opening of the 2020 legal year, said the conviction rate is 78 percent, up almost ten percent from the 70 percent record in 2018. However, Mr Bethel also revealed that of the 529 scheduled trials for 2019, just 150, or 28.36 percent were completed. Of those completed, 103 resulted in convictions while 29 resulted in acquittals. The Attorney General said it is “clear” that a completion rate of less than 30 percent for criminal trials scheduled in any given year is “far below” where his office “needs to be if we are to effectively address the ongoing backlog of serious criminal matters”. Mr Bethel further revealed that of the scheduled cases, 36.67 percent were served with a voluntary bill of indictment (VBI), thereby fast-tracking the matter to the Supreme Court.

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