New legislature to strengthen current execution sentences in Trinidad and Tobago has been halted, as the governing People's Partnership and the People's National Movement (PNM) battle over fine print.

Known as the "Hanging Bill," the new reform has become a bone of contention between the two government leaders, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and Opposition Leader Dr. Keith Rowley.

The bill is a part of the government's wider measures to reduce crime in the twin-island republic. Thirty-two persons have been murdered since the start of 2012.

In a statement, Persad-Bissessar confirmed that "my government is committed to the implementation of the death penalty which remains part of the laws of Trinidad and Tobago." However "regrettably in spite of our efforts there were those within the parliament who saw it fit not to give their support to that bill, despite the cries coming out from our citizens," said Persad-Bissessar.

During a news conference, Opposition Leader Dr. Keith Rowley responded, saying the PNM could not support the bill without the addition of the two regulations suggested. The PNM recommendations include revamping of the justice system to speed up the hearing of cases. The party also requires setting a maximum period for appeals of the death sentence at 18 months, as a countermeasure to the London-based Privy Council's five-year timetable between sentencing and execution.

Dr. Keith Rowley argues that the proposed law makes the current death penalty in Trinidad and Tobago vulnerable to the anti-execution rulings of the Privy Council.

"The very strength of the same mandatory death sentence which prevented the Privy Council from striking it down...the minute you go and categorize murder as you are trying to do, you will be abolishing the mandatory death sentence, you will be creating a new generation of law," said Dr. Rowley.

The debate follows a series of efforts across the region to increase the use of the death penalty. The last hanging in Trinidad and Tobago occurred on July 28, 1999.