DETERMINED to ease overcrowding at the country’s prisons, government will soon introduce night courts and also appoint around five temporary magistrates to help dispose of the huge backlog of cases that have kept inmates on remand at detention centres for years. A top government official told the Guyana Chronicle on Monday that funds are currently being sought to operationalise the night courts, as well as appoint temporary magistrates. It is envisaged that the courts will open from 15:00h to 19:00h, Monday to Friday.

This initiative is part of a package of reforms and actions taken by the administration following the prison riot recently that claimed the lives of 17 inmates. At present magistrates open their courts around 9:00am and close by 2:00pm. Observers have said that the addition of night court hours could provide an opportunity for many individuals to make a court appearance and pay fines and costs without having to take time off from work. Additionally, a night court option could reduce the cost to some individuals by making it possible to appear in courts without missing work.
Contacted on the issue, President of the Guyana Bar Association, Christopher Ram said the association supports any initiative that will accelerate the judicial process, particularly in clearing up of the backlog of cases. He said however, that the initiative of night courts would require additional judges and magistrates and these should be appointed. “We have to ensure that there are enough judges and magistrates to do the night job because we cannot have the same people working during the day working in the nights.”
It is unclear whether government will initially focus on night courts at the magistracy level, but according to Ram “ideally they should do both the Magistrate and High courts because there is backlog at both levels.” Ram noted that a lot of the prisoners who complain about the delay in their trials are at both levels of the judicial process.”
Only last week a high-level Government team led by Prime Minister, Moses Nagamootoo met with the Chancellor of the Judiciary, Justice Carl Singh the Director of Public Prosecution, Shalimar Ali-Hack and senior members of the judicial system to identify measures that could address the problem of over-crowding at the Guyana Prison.
Nagamootoo, after the talks, said he was asked by President David Granger to lead the Executive’s team to the talks. “We are to have follow-up meetings after an exchange of information and completion of an inventory as to how many prisoners are affected,” he disclosed. The Prime Minister described the talks as “very successful” in addressing the prison and justice system. “We are assured that the Chancellor, the DPP, the judiciary and the Magistracy are fully on board,” he said.
Chancellor Singh had assured the delegation that all necessary initiatives will be considered to expedite trials and to review bail to reduce the number of prisoners on remand. Vice President and Public Security Minister, Khemraj Ramjattan; undertook to compile an inventory of prisoners on remand who would be placed in categories in accordance with the offenses for which they have been charged. It is expected that Magistrates would expedite trial or grant bail to remove prisoners which could ease the overcrowding of the jails. The Chancellor will be giving consideration to hiring temporary magistrates, once financing could be guaranteed.
The teams were further assured that the DPP would continue the process of nolle prosequi in High Court matters, where victims and complainants could not be located, after careful judicial review of the circumstances in each case. Both the Government and judicial sides expressed a strong view that, as far as possible, the police ought to take relevant statements and fully prepare cases for the prosecution before charges are laid. If that were done, it would prevent the remand of alleged offenders to prison pending collection of further evidence or advice from the DPP, as the case may be.
A statement by the Prime Minister’s Office had also said that during the frank and cordial exchange of views, both sides recognised the need for a review of sentencing guidelines, the reform of laws to allow the exercise by magistrates of greater discretion in imposing sentences, including for drug-related offenses. Besides, the need for the police to coordinate with the magistrate in the supervision of community service, instead of a term of imprisonment, was also stressed since community service would keep a number of petty offenders out of our jails.