sentencing guidelines”.19 According to the information provided by the parties, 20 none of these bills had, up until mid-2018, passed the necessary steps to become law in force. Moreover, the State informed that two other bills, regarding prisons, had been enacted and were in force,21 although it did not explain the relationship between these bills and the compliance with the guarantees of non-repetition ordered in this case. 8. In their observations of July 6, 2018, the victims’ representatives informed that, on June 27 of that same year, the Caribbean Court of Justice (hereinafter “the CCJ”) issued a decision that resulted in that “the State can no longer impose the mandatory death penalty in Barbados”. Furthermore, the representatives attached a press release dated June 27, 2018, which indicated that this decision “means that all prisoners currently under sentence of death in Barbados will be removed from death row and all those previously sentenced to the mandatory death penalty will also be entitled to be re sentenced”, concluding that, “[t]he decision leaves Trinidad and Tobago as the only country in the Caribbean where the mandatory death penalty continues to be imposed”. 22 9. In this regard, the representatives clarified that this decision “br[ought] domestic legislation in Barbados into conformity with the American Convention with immediate effect”, since: (i) it rendered unlawful the mandatory death penalty in Barbados; (ii) it modified section 2 of the Offences Against the Person Act, allowing the death penalty to be imposed on a discretionary basis in cases in which an individual was found guilty of the crime of murder; (ii) it interpreted the “savings clause” of section 26 of the Constitution as “transitory” and “spent”, so that it is “no longer effective”, and (iv) it established that, within a reasonable time, those persons subject to the mandatory death penalty be resentenced.23 Regarding the effects of this decision, the representatives indicated that “[a]s the CCJ is the highest domestic court in Barbados, its decisions are binding on the State and are effective without further implementation”.24 Consequently, the representatives expressly recognized that, with the said actions, the State had complied with these measures. 25 The 19 Cf. “Penal System Reform (Amendment) Bill, 2014” (annex to the State’s report of September 24, 2015). 20 Cf. State’s reports of February 27, 2012, September 24, 2015, and December 14, 2018, and observations of the representatives of May 3, 2012, and October 1, 2015. 21 These are the “Prisons (Amendment) Act, 2015” and the “Prison (Amendment) Rules, 2014,” which eliminated certain sections of these instruments and created a Prisoners Release Board, which replaced the executive powers that, until then, had been held by the Governor General. Cf. State’s reports of September 24, 2015 and report rendered by Barbados in the private hearing held in September 3, 2015. However, in its most recent report, the State clarified that, although the “Prisons (Amendment) Bill, 2015” had completed all the necessary steps and received the assent of the Governor General in March 2015, its entry into force depended on the date that would be fixed through the Parliament’s proclamation, which was not able to happen, due to the fact that Parliament was dissolved on March 5, 2018. 22 Cf. Written observations of the representatives of July 6, 2018. 23 Cf. Written observations of the representatives of February 22, 2019. 24 According to the agreement that established the CCJ, this court has two types of jurisdiction: (i) original jurisdiction, which it exercises in accordance with the provisions of Part II of said agreement, and (ii) appellate jurisdiction, in the exercise of which “the Court is a superior Court of record with such jurisdiction and powers as are conferred on it by this Agreement or by the Constitution or any other law of a Contracting Party”. Cf. Agreement establishing the Caribbean Court of Justice, Articles III and XXV. Available at: https://ccj.org/wpcontent/uploads/2011/09/ccj_agreement.pdf (last seen: March 11, 2020). Meanwhile, section 79 (C) of the Constitution of Barbados establishes that “[t]here is established a Judicature consisting of: (a) the Caribbean Court of Justice […] and (b) the Supreme Court and Magistrate’s Courts”. Additionally, section 79 (D) establishes that the CCJ shall be “the final Court of Appeal from any decision given by the Court of Appeal”; that the CCJ “shall be a superior court of record and, save as otherwise provided by Parliament, shall have all the powers of such a court”, and that any “decision of the [CCJ] concerning Barbados shall be enforced in Barbados in like manner as if it were a decision of the High Court”. Cf. Constitution of Barbados, section 79, subsections (C) and (D). Available at: https://www.barbadoslawcourts.gov.bb/wpcontent/uploads/consolidatedlaws/actsofbarbados/ConstitutionofBarbados.pdf (last seen: March 11, 2020). 25 Cf. Written observations of the representatives of February 22, 2019. -5-