Beautiful Virgin Islands

Saturday, Sep 06, 2025

AG instructed to draft Witness Anonymity Legislation

AG instructed to draft Witness Anonymity Legislation

Witnesses who take the stand in high profile criminal court cases in the Virgin Islands (BVI) could soon be protected under upcoming legislation that puts witness anonymity on the forefront and protects those people from being identified during and after the case.

This is according to the post-meeting statement of the Cabinet Meeting held on October 2, 2019, where members of the cabinet noted a proposal on the legislation and made instructions for the government to pursue the issue.

According to the statements, Cabinet "Noted that the National Security Council considered the proposal for the witness anonymity legislation at its meeting of 13th August 2018 and agreed that the Government of the Virgin Islands should consider the introduction of legislation to enable a witness in criminal proceedings to be granted anonymity when giving evidence before a court."


Need for Witness Anonymity

While the BVI does have witness protection, there has long been a called for witness anonymity due to the Virgin Islands and its perceived status as a 'small society'. Witness anonymity is an Act that makes provision for securing the anonymity of witnesses in criminal proceedings.

Just recently in October 2019, Virgin Islands News Online (VINO) reported that Neil St Rose, a St Lucian, allegedly threatened to take the life of a man who testified in court against his friend who was eventually made to serve time at Her Majesty’s Prison (HMP).

Prosecutor Kael London said, according to a police report, on May 5, 2019, the Virtual Complainant (VC) was at a bar with his wife when he was approached by St Rose seeking an audience with him outside.

When they arrived outside, St Rose took him to a parked vehicle where his friend, who had been released from prison, sat.

“That’s the man who make you go jail,” St Rose reportedly told his friend. The VC then replied: “I didn’t make you go jail,” and tried to leave, but St Rose allegedly said to him, “I still will kill you…you not going anywhere.”


AG Drafting Legislation

According to the post-Cabinet statements, the renewed push for the legislation comes "Due to a reasonable fear on the part of the witness or another person of death, injury, retaliation, recrimination or oppression or serious damage to property if the witness is identified and that the Attorney General’s [Baba F. Aziz] Chambers be instructed to draft legislation to facilitate the implementation of witness anonymity in criminal proceedings," it said.

Witness anonymity has been on the books since last year when Governor Augustus J. U. Jaspert made a call for the legislation during his September 13, 2018 'Speech from the Throne.'

According to the Governor, the law was necessary, “to ensure the protection of witnesses and the preservation of their rights by the provision for a court to make a witness anonymity order to protect the safety of the witness, prevent damage to property, and prevent real harm.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Threatens Retaliatory Tariffs After EU Imposes €2.95 Billion Fine on Google
Tesla Board Proposes Unprecedented One-Trillion-Dollar Performance Package for Elon Musk
US Justice Department Launches Criminal Mortgage-Fraud Probe into Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook
Escalating Drug Trafficking and Violence in Latin America: A Growing Crisis
US and Taiwanese Defence Officials Held Secret Talks in Alaska
Report: Secret SEAL Team 6 Mission in North Korea Ordered by Trump in 2019 Ended in Failure
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Florida Murder Case: The Adelson Family, the Killing of Dan Markel, and the Trial of Donna Adelson
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Big Tech Executives Laud Trump at White House Dinner, Unveil Massive U.S. Investments
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
‘Looks Like a Wig’: Online Users Express Concern Over Kate Middleton
Brand-New $1 Million Yacht Sinks Just Fifteen Minutes After Maiden Launch in Turkey
Here’s What the FBI Seized in John Bolton Raid — and the Legal Risks He Faces
Florida’s Vaccine Revolution: DeSantis Declares War on Mandates
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
"The Situation Has Never Been This Bad": The Fall of PepsiCo
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
The Fashion Designer Who Became an Italian Symbol: Giorgio Armani Has Died at 91
Putin Celebrates ‘Unprecedentedly High’ Ties with China as Gazprom Seals Power of Siberia-2 Deal
China Unveils New Weapons in Grand Military Parade as Xi Hosts Putin and Kim
Queen Camilla’s Teenage Courage: Fended Off Attempted Assault on London Train, New Biography Reveals
Scottish Brothers Set Record in Historic Pacific Row
Rapper Cardi B Cleared of Liability in Los Angeles Civil Assault Trial
Google Avoids Break-Up in U.S. Antitrust Case as Stocks Rise
Couple celebrates 80th wedding anniversary at assisted living facility in Lancaster
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
The White House on LinkedIn Has Changed Their Profile Picture to Donald Trump
"Insulted the Prophet Muhammad": Woman Burned Alive by Angry Mob in Niger State, Nigeria
Trump Responds to Death Rumors – Announces 'Missile City'
Court of Appeal Allows Asylum Seekers to Remain at Essex Hotel Amid Local Tax Boycott Threats
Germany in Turmoil: Ukrainian Teenage Girl Pushed to Death by Illegal Iraqi Migrant
United Krack down on human rights: Graham Linehan Arrested at Heathrow Over Three X Posts, Hospitalised, Released on Bail with Posting Ban
Asian and Middle Eastern Investors Avoid US Markets
Ray Dalio Warns of US Shift to Autocracy
Eurozone Inflation Rises to 2.1% in August
Russia and China Sign New Gas Pipeline Deal
China's Robotics Industry Fuels Export Surge
Suntory Chairman Resigns After Police Probe
Gold Price Hits New All-Time Record
Von der Leyen's Plane Hit by Suspected Russian GPS Interference in an Incident Believed to Be Caused by Russia or by Pro-Peace or by Anti-Corruption European Activists
UK Fintechs Explore Buying US Banks
Greece Suspends 5% of Schools as Birth Rate Drops
Apollo to Launch $5 Billion Sports Investment Vehicle
Bolsonaro Trial Nears Close Amid US-Brazil Tension
European Banks Push for Lower Cross-Border Barriers
Poland's Offshore Wind Sector Attracts Investors
Nvidia Reveals: Two Mystery Customers Account for About 40% of Revenue
Woody Allen: "I Would Be Happy to Direct Trump Again in a Film"
×