Background Checks in the Bahamas

The Background Investigator Goes To The Bahamas

In a continuing series, The Background Investigator, is sending its attorneys to various countries around the world to explore the justice systems and bring back to you their findings. This month Fred Frankel visited the Bahamas. Here is his report:

Doing Searches in The Bahamas: What You Need To Know

In the Bahamas, there are two main courts the Supreme Court and the Magistrate Courts.
The magistrate courts are lower courts and the records are split up depending on which of the Courts your case was in.
It makes it very difficult to look up cases by a name since you would need the court number for the computer to search.
You could try all 11 courts but that's not very practical since you cannot do the searches yourself - the clerk at the computer does them.
The Supreme Court is a little more organized but there computer records are not very accurate.
The best place to search is the Police Department. There is an office devoted solely to issuing background certificates. This office is very helpful and you can obtain information but it needs to be done in person. The warrants department is the most extensive database since it will have arrests and convictions where the other records office generally only has convictions.