This update covers developments relating to the freedoms of expression and assembly in Antigua and Barbuda from 1st November 2024 to 1st September 2025.
ASSEMBLY
Minors’ curfew in place since 1st October 2024
On 1st October 2024, the amended Small Charges Amendment Act, 2024 was published in the Official Gazette. This Act is part of the government’s broader agenda to address violent crime and was adopted in a package of other legislations: the Anti-Gang Act, 2024; the Firearms Amendment Act, 2024 and the Misuse of Drug Amendment Act, 2024.
The Act prohibits a person under the age of 18 years “to hang around, loiter or congregate on the streets or in any public place in Antigua and Barbuda between the hours of 6 am to 10 pm”. Minors are required to be in the company of an adult if they are on the streets after 10:00 p.m. The police are authorised to take into custody any youth they believe may pose a danger to society if found on the streets during curfew hours. The Attorney General and Public Safety Minister stressed that parents would receive warnings for the first and second offences, but on the third occurrence, they would be fined. Parents or guardians face fines of up to XCD$5,000.00 (1.800 USD) if their children are found violating the curfew.
In July 2025, the Attorney General decided to maintain the curfew, after a meeting with Acting Commissioner of Police and other senior members of the Royal Police Force of Antigua and Barbuda. The curfew thus remained in force during the annual Carnival celebrations.
The constitutionality and efficacy of the bill was questioned. Indeed, a curfew law can threaten minors’ freedom of association and assembly but also encourage police to stop and verify the identity of adults assembling after these hours. According to Article 21 of the International Covenant for Civil and Political Rights – that Antigua and Barbuda ratified in 2019 – no restrictions may be placed on the exercise of the right of peaceful assembly other than those imposed in conformity with the law and which are necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security or public safety, public order, the protection of public health or morals or the protection of the rights and freedoms of others. The UN General Comment no. 37 details that the onus is on the authorities to justify any restrictions: Authorities must be able to show that any restrictions meet the requirement of legality, and are also both necessary for and proportionate to at least one of the permissible grounds for restrictions enumerated in article 21, and they must also be the least intrusive among the measures that might serve the relevant protective function.
In its 2024 Annual Report, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights expressed its concern about the juvenile curfew that does not specify an end-term. The Antigua and Barbuda delegation “unequivocally” refuted the implication that the Small Charges (Amendment) Bill of 2024 contravenes international human rights practices and indicated that the measure would be lifted once the issue is satisfactorily contained.
Security workers protest
On 1st August 2025, security workers from the Ministry of Public Works held a protest in Saint John to denounce mistreatment by senior management, unpaid wages, and other workplace issues.
EXPRESSION
Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression notes occasional political interference with the press
On 3rd March 2025, the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights published its annual report for 2024. The Special Rapporteur recorded editorials from media outlets published on the occasion of the 2024 World Press Freedom Day that indicated that the press in the country would sometimes face "political interference", "editorial censorship" and "inadequate compensation", hindering the ability to carry out investigative journalism and accountability. It also called on the state to deepen the scope and operationalisation of the Freedom of Information Act of 2004.