FOR a long time it has been the strongly held view that the justice system in Guyana is corrupt and highly flawed. My view is substantiated in scores of instances wherein the guilty is exonerated, while the victim continues to suffer without redress. Time and time again we see this grave violation of justice emanating from our courts with no end in sight.
A classic case is that matter that took place somewhere in Agricola where a teenaged woman was savagely gunned down by her jealous male lover; that case concluded in the accused being freed of all charges. At the time of the shooting this known felon was in possession of an unlicensed firearm.Further details of the said case reveal the accused telling the court that he was playing with the gun when it accidentally went off killing the victim.
Now my question is, why was this guy in possession of an unlicensed firearm in the first place? Secondly, him being alone with the victim after a heated argument, and persons hearing the report of a discharged firearm later stumbling upon the body of a dead woman, why was he freed of all charges? These are the vexing questions that plague us and the answers that are not forthcoming. As someone sarcastically retorted, the answer is in the wind, she was killed by a phantom gunman. The facts in this case are so blatantly obvious that one wonders what is going on in our courts and the sick decisions that pass for justice.
Therefore it came as no surprise  when we read of a hung jury in the murder case involving accused Cyon Collier aka “picture boy” on the East Coast of Demerara. The shocking revelations by a court reporter of a juror or jurors being in collusion with the accused in open court nodding, smiling and giving affirmation with the accused or his lawyers, are criminal acts which should not be seen in a court of law. These were clear signs as to what would be the outcome of such a case; a hung jury. Being an ardent follower of legal proceedings, I was very worried about this and scores of other cases tried by this judge.
My fears heightened when that judge admitted into evidence the ” expert testimony” of a suspect doctor with questionable credentials; that doctor in question is a paediatrician with no knowledge or training in ballistics, never witnessed the autopsy of the dead man, yet the testimony coming from such an individual was administered as expert. Fantastic! so you knew fully well where this case was headed.  In related information on the accused in this case, he was also caught redhanded with a mini arsenal of weapons consistent with the wounds that killed the victim. From all indications the justice system did not do justice, and leaves one to ask several searching questions in relation to some people who are corruptly involved in extra-judicial matters such as the ethnicity of the individual, politics and other gender-related matters which are highly offensive to those seeking redress for the wrongs done to their friends, family and loved ones.
This is the sick, sad situation that confronts us where some judges and magistrates are prepared to make a sham of the entire justice system and I hasten to add, something needs to be urgently done to remedy this situation. I call on the newly installed Attorney General to set up a legal committee to review the decisions taken in some courts. There are not very many suspects in this regard so it would not be a difficult task to undertake. When a case comes to court, it is the sacred responsibility for those who took the oath or as we commonly say those wearing the black clothes to see to it that the law is upheld.