–as Criminal Law Miscellaneous Bill 2025 passed

THE Criminal Law Miscellaneous Bill 2025 was passed on Monday in the National Assembly, providing strict penalties for persons committing offences while wearing masks.
The bill, which received the unanimous support of the House, was called for its second reading during the 105th sitting of the 12th Parliament, during which it was noted that it is expected to serve as a deterrent to criminal behaviour, enhance public safety and aid law enforcement.

Attorney-General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, SC noted that the bill seeks to deter persons from engaging in crime by increasing the penalties for masked and disguised persons who commit an offence.
“One of the primary objectives of the bill is deterrence. When individuals are aware that concealing their identity while committing a crime will result in additional charges and hardship penalties, they may be less likely to engage in such behaviour,” Nandlall told the House.

According to the bill’s explanatory memorandum, it makes way to increase the penalty for the offence of unlawfully assaulting a person while masked or otherwise disguised, from $7,500 or no more than $15,000 or to imprisonment for 18 months to $50,000 or no more than $750,000 or to imprisonment for three years.

With this, the Attorney-General noted that the bill, therefore, sends a clear message that anonymity is not a shield for committing a crime.
However, he clarified that the bill does not outlaw the wearing of masks or any facial disguises; it only applies when that mask, facial disguise or facial apparel is used in the commission of a crime.
To this end, he indicated that several other jurisdictions have led the way in this area of law, including Canada, certain states within the United States of America, and regional neighbours.

He added, “This bill, similar to that of Canada, makes it an offence for any person to wear a mask to conceal their identity while committing any offence against public order, including riots, unlawful assembly and acts of terrorism.”

“The bill also extends its application to target the commission of other specific offences while wearing a mask or disguise, such as larceny, house breaking, burglary, and robbery, and it increases the penalty for assaulting any person while wearing a mask.”

Meanwhile, rising to voice the opposition’s support for the bill was MP Amanza Walton-Desir, who told the House that what the provision is doing is adding an aggravating element to an offence, and as such, they have no difficulty with that.

“We have no difficulty supporting the amendment,” she said.
She also raised the issue of private security firms here, which sometimes have their officers wearing masks and noted that this is a practice that should be stopped.
In response to this, the Minister of Home Affairs, Robeson Benn, during his contributions to the bill, stated that in security firms, there may be many reasons why the masks would be needed for protection.

However, he added to the intentions of the bill and stated, “So it is not the mere wearing of a mask, whether it’s a ski mask, a hoodie, a balaclava or whatever you want or a scarf to hide your face. If you are intent on committing a crime, if you are involved in terroristic activities… and you’re using a mask or means of hiding your face and the rest of it…. You are committing a crime, and this bill lays out the recourse in the law for response to this type of activity.”

Against this backdrop, the Attorney-General further reiterated that the wearing of a mask is only criminal if used during the commission of an offence.