– MP Nandlall
THE National Assembly, last week Thursday, unanimously passed the Criminal Law Offences (Amendment) Bill.But 40 people convicted of the capital offence before its passage will not benefit from the legislation and their fate will be determined by the Committee for the Prerogative of Mercy. With the law passing, the death penalty remains in force but is no longer mandatory for murder as the alternative of life imprisonment is provided.

Member of Parliament MP and attorney-at-law Mr. Anil Nandlall explained, to the Guyana Chronicle, that laws are not retroactive and, unless the Mercy Committee makes a recommendation for the sentences to be commuted, they will remain as pronounced.
He said the legislative move is not the result of Guyana buckling under pressure from international agencies but it is, rather, a democracy respecting all views and finding some common ground.
Nandlall said that Guyana has an obligation to recognise the requirements, expressed or implied, in the international treaties and conventions which it has signed on to, most of which call for the abolition of the death penalty.
He said this is the way forward and much of the Caribbean region has gone the same route.
Nandlall said, more importantly, it is something that the (British) Privy Council considers a constitutional breach.
The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) is one of the highest courts in the United Kingdom, established by the Judicial Committee Act 1833. It is also the Court of last resort for several independent Commonwealth countries.
However, seeking to find common ground, too, the Council reversed its 2003 ruling that Trinidad and Tobago’s mandatory death penalty for murder convicts was unconstitutional. It said, rather, it would substitute a sentence of life imprisonment for anyone under such penalty.
Nandlall said, in 1996 the Guyana Court of Appeal made a suggestion for similar action to pacify the harsher punishments so that they fit the circumstances.
The now effective amendment, piloted by Attorney General Charles Ramson, provides, essentially, for the sentencing of persons convicted of murder committed in certain circumstances.
It seeks to amend a section of the Principal Act by specifying the circumstances under which any person convicted of murder shall be sentenced and to insert a new section into which provides the form of sentence for every person who is convicted of murder.
Murder of members of the security forces is expected to attract the death penalty, in addition to several other categories as stipulated in the statute.