Anyone charged with harming or murdering a law enforcement officer will be tried within six months of being charged with the crime, Attorney General and Government Leader of Business in the Senate Allyson Maynard-Gibson announced on Monday.

Mrs. Maynard-Gibson also announced during a debate on a resolution thanking the Governor General for reading the Speech from the Throne during the opening of parliament last month that the government will be revealing the details of a revamped Swift Justice programme sometime this week.

The government’s announcement that it will expedite the trials of those who commit violent crimes against law enforcement officers follows two separate shooting incidents over the past weekend where one reservist police officer was killed and another officer was injured.

“I assure the Bahamian people that our nation’s constitutional proclamation of “an abiding respect for Christian values and the rule of law” will always be in the forefront of my mind and that I will use every fibre of my being to successfully re-implement Swift Justice,” Mrs. Maynard-Gibson said.

“I ask every person within our borders to join me on this journey. We will be making announcements about the reimplementation Swift Justice later this week.”

The attorney general also chided the previous administration which she accused of engaging in political interference at the Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF).

She promised that under the Christie administration, measures will be put in place to ensure that the RBPF operates in a professional and efficient manner.

“The previous government showed no respect for democracy or for rule of law,” the attorney general said. “More than one person told me that a cabinet minister walked up to a senior police officer, not the commissioner of police, and referred to that senior police officer as the commissioner of police.”

“As has been announced, we will move to repeal all provisions of the Police Act that are unconstitutional, or undermine the impartiality and security of tenure of the commissioner and deputy commissioner of police.”

Leader of Opposition Business in the Senate Desmond Bannister cautioned the attorney general that the government, in its pursuit to bring swift justice, may find itself infringing on the constitutional rights of the citizens of the country.

“The attorney general was wrong when she asserted that the persons that recently shot and killed a police officer will be tried within six months,” Mr. Bannister said.

“The honourable attorney general breached the sacred presumption of innocence when she failed to say that the people accused of the murder will be tried within six months and by her own utterance she has put us all in a position that no attorney general should be in and which we would never want her to do again.”