CREATING a “safe and secure environment” that allows every Guyanese to realise their potential is the underlying focus of the recently released plan for the justice sector, which comes on the heels of the ruling party’s manifesto excerpts, Guyana 2.0.A statement from Minister of Legal Affairs and Attorney General, Anil Nandlall, said, “[Our plan is to] enact a series of some of the new legislation designed to advance our national developmental trajectory, develop our people’s social welfare and most importantly, strengthen the State apparatus and its law-enforcement agencies and capacity to effectively and successfully wage war against crime and criminals, thereby creating a safe and secure environment in which every Guyanese can aspire and indeed, realise his or her potential, while at the same time making our nation a safe and secure destination for local and foreign investments, as well as [for] tourism.”
NEW LAWS
According to him, the new legislation will include: a Bail Act; a Jury Act; an E-Transaction Act; a new Arbitration Ac; a Hire Purchase Act; a Whistle Blower Protection Act; Electronic Communications and Transactions Act; Juvenile Justice Act; a Motor Vehicles Insurance (Third Party Risks) Amendment Act; and amendments to the Anti-Money Laundering & Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) Act.
Institutional strengthening was another major feature of the ministry’s plan, moving forward.
“We will continue to make resources available to strengthen the institutional capacity and capability of the judicial system at every level and to partner with them in implementing initiatives designed to bring greater speed to the system, addressing the backlog of cases and ensuring timely delivery of decisions, as we strive to create a society that is just, democratic and one in which the Rule of Law reigns supreme and the constitutional rights and freedoms of all are respected and protected,” he said.
According to him, special emphasis will continue to be placed on bringing greater dispatch and speed to the judicial system, targeting specifically the backlog of civil and criminal cases that are pending in the system.
“The judiciary has committed to the commissioning of a study by experts to examine the real reasons for the sloth in the judiciary and to generate recommendations designed to rectify the identified deficiencies,” Nandlall said.
He added that his ministry will continue to enhance the human resource base of the justice system by the appointment of more Judges, Magistrates and other personnel.
Nandlall said, “We have already increased the statutory complement of judges in the High Court from 12 to 20, laying the foundation for more appointments to be made with every convenient speed.
“We will partner with the judiciary to ensure that there are more frequent sittings of the Magistrate’s Court in the rural communities and in particular, the hinterland communities. In this regard, new court houses which are being built in these areas are being done with residential facilities for magistrates to encourage longer stints in the hinterland communities.”
RESOURCED
The instillation and operationalisation of a modern voice recording system at the Court of Appeal, as well as in the High Court at Georgetown, Demerara, New Amsterdam, Berbice and Suddie, Essequibo, is also part of the ministry’s plans.
The Legal Affairs Minister noted that the establishment of a new mediation centre in Essequibo to complement centres already established in Georgetown and New Amsterdam, Berbice.
He said, “Staff is currently being recruited for the Family Court. It is expected that this court will become operational soonest and will be yet another specialised court that will deal specifically with Family Law matters, including divorces, disputes in relation to matrimonial property and adoption, guardianship, access, custody and maintenance of children. This will yet be another measure that will remove these types of cases from the system and have them speedily heard and determined by a specialised court.”
The new civil procedure rules, Nandlall explained, will soon be brought into force and this will revolutionise and indeed completely modernise civil litigation bringing Guyana on par with other jurisdictions in the Caribbean and elsewhere.
“This will yet be another initiative that brings speed to the justice system,” he said.
These new rules are expected to be followed by the operationalisation of the Judicial Review Act.
“This ground-breaking legislative intervention will provide the citizenry with an unprecedented repertoire of legal remedies which they can seek against officials of the State, officials of Government, and indeed every public officer or organ when there is any actual, threatened or perceived violation of the Constitution, misbehaviour, abuse of authority, or wrongful or unreasonable exercise of power,” he said.
USER-FRIENDLY
Nandlall committed to providing the requisite resources to ensure that Guyana’s justice system continue to remain accessible and user-friendly to all our people wherever they may be located.
“In this regard, we have rebuilt or repaired every single Court House right across the length and breadth of this country. Within the next few weeks, a new Magistrates’ Court with residential quarters and a sub-Magisterial district office will be commissioned at Lethem,” he said.
To this end, the minister disclosed that two contracts have been awarded for the construction of two Magistrates’ Courts at Sparendaam, East Coast Demerara and a new edifice in the Supreme Court compound, Georgetown that will accommodate two Land Courts with Judges’ Chambers and Registries.
He said, “[There will be] a continuation of the modernisation of the process at the Supreme Court Registry and the Deeds and Land Registries, including the continuation of digitisation of the records, as well as the process at these institutions.
“The Commercial/Land Registry in Georgetown will move to its new location on Avenue of the Republic (the old NBS building) within the next two (2) weeks. Shortly, the Land Registry in Berbice will move into its new accommodation at Main Street, New Amsterdam.”
Continued cooperation and consultation with the Guyana Bar Association and other organisations were underscored as important to the move forward.
“We continue to chart a course forward in building a justice system that is truly competent, impartial, efficient, accessible and one of which every Guyanese can be proud,” Nandlall concluded.