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THE Ministry of Legal Affairs’ energies have been dedicated towards much planning and reform in the law, and institutions governing the system of transports, land and business registrations, with much advancement, subject Minister Anil Nandlall told the National Assembly while reporting on his sector during the just concluded Budget debate. He noted at just one these institutions, the Deeds Registry in 2011, in excess of 40,000 transactions were done and included the registration and recordings of 11,168 bills of sale, 228 new companies, 5,125 business names, 674 trademarks, 1,813 powers of attorney, 1650 deeds and 11,094 conveyances. Excluded are those done through the Ministry of Housing.
“Every single one of these transactions was urgent and life-changing to the citizens using the process… unfortunately our laws and institutions as currently constituted were firstly unable to give the stakeholders the expedient service they deserve; secondly, are unable to keep pace with the increase in commercial transactions in Guyana and thirdly, unable to perform at the speed at which business arrangements are required to be made in the increasingly competitive world,” Minister Nandlall posited.
Legal and institutional reforms
so as to meet the demands of the stakeholders in a timely manner, the ministry has embarked on a series of sweeping legal and institutional reforms at the Deeds, Companies and Land Registries, and the business names and Official Gazette processes.
Official Gazette
“We are all aware that in 2012, we drafted and piloted, and collectively passed, the gazette in the National Assembly…that Bill was indeed an important aspect of our legal system, because the official gazette remains a part of our legal landscape for almost 300 years, but in a very haphazard way, that Bill has put it on a firm footing, but more fundamentally it has allowed access via the internet to thousands of Guyanese both in and out of Guyana,” he said.
The on-line version of the Official Gazette was formally launched in February 2013, and thus far, the document has had over 25,000 hits. The minister explained that every Friday an individual can go on his/her computer and access the gazette for that week, and to date, only one week has been missed, the Good Friday weekend.
In 2012, the ministry also drafted and brought to the National Assembly the Business Name Amendment Bill which was passed in August of last year. “The purpose of the amending Act is to stagger the process of annual renewal of business names using the anniversary dates as the registration instead of a defined period in January of every year,” he said.
Deeds Registry
Reforms were also undertaken at the Deeds and Companies Registries (these are the vital institutions where records and legal commercial transactions in Guyana are deposited). It is proposed that those registries be physically and legally separated and granted some measure of autonomy to facilitate efficient and expeditious processing of transactions.
“This will allow us to create a Board and that Board will take over and assume administration of these entities…that Board is made up of representatives from the private sector, the Bar Association in Georgetown and in Berbice, and representatives of the government,” the minister noted. The purpose is to give autonomy and remove it from central government.
He added that discussions will be had with the staff and the Public Service Ministry to ensure a smooth transition, since the staff will be moving from being public servants to employees of a semi-autonomous agency. Shortly, the ministry will be advertising for the post of a Commercial Registrar.
Land Registry
The land registry is also scheduled for similar transformational reformation, as, in its current state, it is inadequate in terms of human and technical and other resources to cope with the workload that it is presented with. In this regard, a similar Bill to that of the Deeds registry is already drafted.
The registry will be removed from both of its locations in Georgetown and Berbice to better facilities. The Georgetown-based registry is to be relocated to the former New Building Society on Avenue of the Republic that would also accommodate the commercial registry.
Judiciary’s operations
Meanwhile, Minister Nandlall asked the opposition to understand the limitations under which the executive operates in relation to the judiciary.
“The judiciary is a constitutionally independent body and all that the executive can do is to present available resources, the judiciary is largely separate…so my learned friend Mr. (James) Bond (APNU MP) the question that he asked about the appointment or the non-appointment of the registrar and the promotion of people within that structure, he must know that those appointments reside with the Judicial Service Commission-an independent constitutional body that has no functional connection with the executive,” the minister said.
In response to another APNU MP, Basil Williams’ comments regarding the development of infrastructure in the legal system, Minister Nandlall emphasised that the ministry is not singular, but is developing infrastructure and in every conceivable area that comes under the administration of justice.
He indicated that the Justice Improvement Administration Programme is now coming to an end. “That programme was never intended to address all the problems of the legal sector, but what I can say, emphatically, is that it has addressed a tremendous and substantial number of problems,” Minister Nandlall affirmed.
Case backlog
With regard to the backlog of cases, the minister reported that 12, 201 were assigned to Judges of the High Court between March 2012 and December 2012, and 8,880 cases were disposed of from the High Court.
This state of affairs will now enable the realisation of the new High Court Rules which will be ready for implementation by July 2013.
Georgetown Magistrates’ court
The Georgetown Magistrates’ Court will be also be completed this year. The building has been extended from the original contract and there has been a variation to accommodate two additional courts, thereby bringing the number of courts to 10.
The courts will be air-conditioned and the automated recording system will also be implemented through support from Parliament’s Hansard Department.
“Every single one of these transactions was urgent and life-changing to the citizens using the process… unfortunately our laws and institutions as currently constituted were firstly unable to give the stakeholders the expedient service they deserve; secondly, are unable to keep pace with the increase in commercial transactions in Guyana and thirdly, unable to perform at the speed at which business arrangements are required to be made in the increasingly competitive world,” Minister Nandlall posited.
Legal and institutional reforms
so as to meet the demands of the stakeholders in a timely manner, the ministry has embarked on a series of sweeping legal and institutional reforms at the Deeds, Companies and Land Registries, and the business names and Official Gazette processes.
Official Gazette
“We are all aware that in 2012, we drafted and piloted, and collectively passed, the gazette in the National Assembly…that Bill was indeed an important aspect of our legal system, because the official gazette remains a part of our legal landscape for almost 300 years, but in a very haphazard way, that Bill has put it on a firm footing, but more fundamentally it has allowed access via the internet to thousands of Guyanese both in and out of Guyana,” he said.
The on-line version of the Official Gazette was formally launched in February 2013, and thus far, the document has had over 25,000 hits. The minister explained that every Friday an individual can go on his/her computer and access the gazette for that week, and to date, only one week has been missed, the Good Friday weekend.
In 2012, the ministry also drafted and brought to the National Assembly the Business Name Amendment Bill which was passed in August of last year. “The purpose of the amending Act is to stagger the process of annual renewal of business names using the anniversary dates as the registration instead of a defined period in January of every year,” he said.
Deeds Registry
Reforms were also undertaken at the Deeds and Companies Registries (these are the vital institutions where records and legal commercial transactions in Guyana are deposited). It is proposed that those registries be physically and legally separated and granted some measure of autonomy to facilitate efficient and expeditious processing of transactions.
“This will allow us to create a Board and that Board will take over and assume administration of these entities…that Board is made up of representatives from the private sector, the Bar Association in Georgetown and in Berbice, and representatives of the government,” the minister noted. The purpose is to give autonomy and remove it from central government.
He added that discussions will be had with the staff and the Public Service Ministry to ensure a smooth transition, since the staff will be moving from being public servants to employees of a semi-autonomous agency. Shortly, the ministry will be advertising for the post of a Commercial Registrar.
Land Registry
The land registry is also scheduled for similar transformational reformation, as, in its current state, it is inadequate in terms of human and technical and other resources to cope with the workload that it is presented with. In this regard, a similar Bill to that of the Deeds registry is already drafted.
The registry will be removed from both of its locations in Georgetown and Berbice to better facilities. The Georgetown-based registry is to be relocated to the former New Building Society on Avenue of the Republic that would also accommodate the commercial registry.
Judiciary’s operations
Meanwhile, Minister Nandlall asked the opposition to understand the limitations under which the executive operates in relation to the judiciary.
“The judiciary is a constitutionally independent body and all that the executive can do is to present available resources, the judiciary is largely separate…so my learned friend Mr. (James) Bond (APNU MP) the question that he asked about the appointment or the non-appointment of the registrar and the promotion of people within that structure, he must know that those appointments reside with the Judicial Service Commission-an independent constitutional body that has no functional connection with the executive,” the minister said.
In response to another APNU MP, Basil Williams’ comments regarding the development of infrastructure in the legal system, Minister Nandlall emphasised that the ministry is not singular, but is developing infrastructure and in every conceivable area that comes under the administration of justice.
He indicated that the Justice Improvement Administration Programme is now coming to an end. “That programme was never intended to address all the problems of the legal sector, but what I can say, emphatically, is that it has addressed a tremendous and substantial number of problems,” Minister Nandlall affirmed.
Case backlog
With regard to the backlog of cases, the minister reported that 12, 201 were assigned to Judges of the High Court between March 2012 and December 2012, and 8,880 cases were disposed of from the High Court.
This state of affairs will now enable the realisation of the new High Court Rules which will be ready for implementation by July 2013.
Georgetown Magistrates’ court
The Georgetown Magistrates’ Court will be also be completed this year. The building has been extended from the original contract and there has been a variation to accommodate two additional courts, thereby bringing the number of courts to 10.
The courts will be air-conditioned and the automated recording system will also be implemented through support from Parliament’s Hansard Department.
