THE complete set of Guyana Law Reports from 1930 to 2007 are now accessible online and litigation from 1977 updated in printed form up to 2007, owing to the goal of the Modernisation of the Justice Administration Programme to revolutionise access to literature that will influence expeditious and timely resolution of court cases.

The print and online versions were launched yesterday before President Donald Ramotar, Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall, Chief Justice (ag) Carl Singh, Inter American Development Bank (IDB) Country Representative Sophie Makonnen, and several legal luminaries at the Sleep In hotel on Brickdam.
The 200 sets of 14 volumes build on the last undertaking 16 years ago to print Guyana Law Reports of 1996, and give attorneys and citizens easy and efficient reference in their case preparations.
By logging onto the website www.official.net.gov.gy an interested person will gain access to court rulings at the level of the High Court, Supreme Court and Court of Appeal over the last 83 years, and a gazette that is updated every Saturday.
The government is even more convinced that it is on the right track moving in this direction, with a One Laptop Per Family (OLPF) programme that provides the tools necessary to gain access to the technology.
An IDB loan approved in 2007 made funding for the costly initiative possible and a reputable Canadian firm, LEXUM, was contracted to undertake the updating process.
The government intends to make the process a continuous one with the next volume of publications combining print and online copies spanning the period 2007 to 2013, according to Minister Nandlall.
Yesterday’s launch was hailed by President Ramotar as one that will lend support to the judiciary in performing its duties and the work of researchers, particularly law students.
He is however hopeful that it will make a greater contribution to expeditiousness in the passing down of decisions that he complained are customarily long overdue, and are the cause for the huge backlog that the judiciary is currently facing.
Cabinet only on Tuesday gave the green light to a request made by Minister Nandlall for an increase in the complement of judges to tackle the backlog issue, supplementing legislation piloted by the government that hold jurists to the principles of timeliness.
“It grieves me sometimes to know that people are incarcerated for long periods of time without having an opportunity for their cases to be heard, and it’s very clear that there is great room for improvement in this regard and to try to make justice swifter,” President Ramotar said.
The government holds firm to the philosophy that justice delayed is justice denied, and as an executive, has never tampered with the affairs of the judiciary despite numerous criticisms, according to President Ramotar.
The launch of the Guyana Law Reports is one of several government undertakings Minister Nandlall chronicled as part of efforts to modernise the justice system in Guyana.
Among them are the amendments to the criminal and procedural law, extensive renovations to Chambers of the Director of Public Prosecution, strengthening of both state and police prosecutors through training in criminal matters like narcotics, smuggling, cyber crime and other criminal offences.
Minister Nandlall reported that the process has also seen the Attorney General’s Chambers re-organising, strengthening its technological capabilities, accessing literature on the law, and establishing a system to monitor progress.
An informal justice initiative that provides an alternative to the formal system was launched. It targeted rural communities and 135 volunteers from 42 Amerindian villages in Region 9 were trained. The overall goal, according to Minister Nandlall, is to enable access to justice.
A complete revision of Guyana’s laws covering the year 2010 is at present in the conclusion phase and will soon be launched.