New Caribbean court asked to resume death penalties

New Caribbean court asked to resume death penalties

Hoping to hang two men convicted of beating another man to death in 1999, Barbados on Tuesday will ask the Caribbean Court of Justice - a regional appeals court that heard its first case last year - to overturn a Privy Council precedent that requires executions to take place within five years of conviction.

The Caribbean court was started to counter Britain's Privy Council, which remains the final appeals court for most of Britain's former Caribbean colonies, and has been seen as a vestige of colonial power, the AP reports.

The Caribbean's last execution was in the Bahamas in 2000. Trinidad hanged 10 men in 1999, but Jamaica hasn't hanged anyone since 1988.