6
16.
The Commission welcomed the decision of the State to repeal section 26 of the
Constitution as “a positive and important legislative development.” However, it also noted
that the State did not submit information as to how this change will be effectuated.
Accordingly, the Commission requested that the Court order the State to provide “the
requisite information,” including information on “the timeframe in which this legislative
development [will] take place.”
17.
The Court values the decision of the State to repeal section 26 of the Constitution
and to submit evidence of this change. However, as it has not yet received this evidence,
the Court finds that the present orders are pending compliance and requests that the State
submit an updated report on the status of the process initiated for the purpose of repealing
section 26 of the Constitution.
B.
ORDERS PECULIAR TO THE BOYCE JUDGMENT
B.1. Obligation to formally commute the death sentence of Michael McDonald
Huggins within six months of the date notice of the Boyce Judgment was served
(Operative Paragraph six of the Boyce Judgment)
18.
The State reported that by virtue of the “Warrant of Commutation” of June 13, 2008,
issued by the Governor General of Barbados, the death sentence of Mr. Michael McDonald
Huggins was commuted to life imprisonment on June 17, 2008. Pursuant to the Warrant of
Commutation attached to the State's report, Mr. Huggins was granted a pardon for the
offence for which he was convicted “on the condition that [he] be imprisoned for the
remainder of his natural life […].”
19.
The representatives expressed concern with the wording of the Warrant of
Commutation, noting that it states that Michael McDonald Huggins “shall be imprisoned for
the remainder of his natural life.” They indicated that “if Michael Huggins'[s] sentence of
life imprisonment means that he is to remain in prison for the rest of his life without the
possibility of parole, such a sentence, mandatorily imposed, is subject to almost all the vices
held to be inherent [to] the mandatory death sentence itself.” Thus, the representatives
asked that the State “confirm whether the condition attached to the pardon is to be read
literally, or whether the warrant should be interpreted as intending to do no more than
substitute a sentence of life imprisonment subject to a system of periodic review.”
20.
The Commission “recognize[d] and value[d] this measure of compliance.” However,
it also noted that, “as stated in its application before the Court, ‘the mercy procedure is not
an adequate substitute for a judicial process that determines the appropriate sentence after
a conviction for murder.’”
21.
In light of the statements of the parties, the Court finds that the State has
commuted Mr. Michael McDonald Huggins's death sentence pursuant to Operative Paragraph
six of the Boyce Judgment and, therefore, has complied with the present order.
B.2. The obligation to adopt and implement measures necessary to ensure that
the conditions of detention of the victims in the Boyce case comply with the
requirements of the American Convention (Operative Paragraph nine of the Boyce
Judgment)