A SEVEN-woman delegation comprising members of the Guyana Responsible Parenthood Association (GRPA), Help and Shelter, Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD), Red Thread, Child Link and the Guyana Association of Women Lawyers (GAWL) met on Monday with the Minister of Legal Affairs and Attorney General, Basil Williams. Issues were raised on some key concerns regarding access to justice and the functioning of the courts in the interior, implementation of the Domestic Violence Act, juveniles and the court system (including enactment of the Juvenile Justice Bill), amendment of the Jury Act, activation of night courts, alternative sentencing, specialised courts for sexual offences, training for judiciary, magistracy and court officers, coroner’s inquest and the Prevention of Discrimination Act 1997 on the grounds of sexual orientation.
The delegation included Omattie Madray of Child Link, Karen Desouza and Nicola Marcus of Red Thread, Schemel Patrick of SASOD, Emily Dodson of GAWL, Danuta Radzik of Help and Shelter and Patricia Sheraton Bisnauth of the GRPA.
NATIONAL SERVICE TO BE EXPLORED
During a lively discussion at the Minister’s office, concerns were raised by De Souza regarding the responses to juvenile crime. She recommended that the Administration should reintroduce National Service as she is a product of this programme and has seen its benefits firsthand. This recommendation was strongly backed by the other delegates.

The AG agreed with the strong recommendation coming from the group and noted that they had sold him on National Service as an option to be explored in relation to juvenile crime.
On another note, Attorney General Williams explained that every magistrate has the power to conduct inquests. This was in response to a question about whose responsibility it is to conduct inquests in violent and unnatural deaths.
Williams thanked the delegation and committed himself to working with the organisations towards the timely delivery of justice for the poor and marginalised, identified by the delegation as women, children and poor people in the Guyanese society.
The Minister also pointed out that financial support is needed for most of their recommendations towards addressing challenges in the delivery of judicial services and the dispensation of justice.
Some of the issues and recommendations also explored were the raising of the age of criminal responsibility, extensive training for magistrates prior to and on ascension to the Bench. There were also calls for continuous training thereafter to curb the vexing issue of the culture of remand sentences for bailable offences, granting frequent adjournments for flimsy reasons (sometimes through intimidation), inconsistent sentencing and greater use of alternative sentencing for first-time offenders. In addition, it was also felt that probation officers should be placed in every court and all judicial officers in the justice system should be exposed to gender- sensitive training.

Other issues considered included the need for more magistrates to speed up the delivery of justice, activation of night courts, a specialised court for sexual offences, the operation of the family court and the removal of the Linden magistracy from under the Demerara Magisterial District since persons have to travel from Linden all the way to Vreed-en-Hoop to conduct judicial business. (Ministry of Legal Affairs)