By Ariana Gordon

THE United States (U.S.) government on Friday unveiled a US$946, 000 (G$198M) three-year programme geared at strengthening the criminal justice system in Guyana.Speaking at a simple ceremony held at the U.S. Embassy, Georgetown, U.S. Ambassador Perry Holloway said the programme aims to increase the effectiveness of criminal investigations in Guyana. This he said will ultimately lead to strong prosecutions and trials as the technical capacity of the police, prosecutors, and magistrates will be enhanced. All of the links he said will be interconnected to work with criminal evidence in a supportive environment.
The programme is part of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) and the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative and is titled “Strengthening the Criminal Justice in Guyana” programme. “We are very proud to facilitate this programme through the Justice Education Society of British Columbia. I am confident this programme will strengthen the integrity and responsiveness of Guyana’s justice system.”

Ambassador Holloway noted that the U.S. Embassy has been working alongside the Attorney General and Ministry of Legal Affairs and the Director of Public Prosecutions office to strengthen Guyana’s justice system over the years. It was recognised that each component agency has independent and constitutional roles and functions.

“We also recognise that outcomes are enhanced when each agency understands the work of the other and has confidence that best practices are being utilised when carrying out those responsibilities,” said the U.S. Ambassador. Between 2012 and early 2014 agencies of the U.S. government including the INL completed a series of assessment reports which identified challenges which exist in the justice system here; those challenges ranged from police investigative procedures through the criminal prosecuting process.
“In January 2015, the embassy and the diplomatic community combined efforts to identify and address issues within the justice sector. A series of meetings and seminars with representatives of the Guyanese policing, prosecuting and judicial authorities were conducted to ascertain the expertise and methodology to develop a structured justice reform programme for Guyana.”
It was as a result of those meetings that the U.S. government was able to develop the programme with experts aimed at addressing issues facing Guyana in the criminal justice system. Ambassador Holloway said the U.S. will continue to assist Guyana’s criminal justice entities to improve their knowledge, skills, abilities and collaboration.
“Increased knowledge, skills, abilities and collaboration means increased capacity to get better results. That is something we all want and will continue to [strive] for…I would like to pledge my government’s continued support for the programmes and projects that will ultimately lead to enhancing the criminal justice system in Guyana,” the U.S. Ambassador noted as he reminded that the U.S. is building on a project that was started by the Canadian government. He stressed that the justice sector belongs to Guyana and in the end, it is the country that is required to do the right thing and invest. “Our hope is that we’d be a catalyst, set the stage …and then the government will put in the rest,” he added.
Meanwhile, Vice-President and manager of the Justice Education Society, Evelyn Neaman, said the must- have ingredients for an ideal justice reform project are a small population where both urban and rural communities can be reached, supportive and respectful collaboration with partners, the availability of the latest technology and training as well as long-term funding to ensure sustainability.
With those ingredients, the foundation on which the programme was built, Neaman said a safe and secure society would become evident. She stressed that forensic evidence is the foundation of a strong justice system, while noting that the project will develop capacity in crime-scene management and investigation surveillance evidence, also known as forensic video evidence, one of the fastest-growing areas of forensic evidence globally. “…from convenience stores to banks, to traffic intersections, CCTV cameras are virtually everywhere – this project will continue to increase the capacity of specialised forensic video analysis units in both the Guyana Police Force (GPF) and the National Forensic Science Laboratory —these units will be able to analyse this evidence— Guyana will be the leader in the Caribbean for forensic video analysis and this project will further enhance its predominance in the region,” Neaman declared.
Minister of Public Security, Khemraj Ramjattan, while expressing gratitude to the U.S. government, acknowledged that the local justice sector has “a number of deficiencies and defects and deficits.” He said the Justice Education Society will aid in the restoration of the rule of law which is of utmost importance to Caribbean territories.
“This is advancing those reforms we have undertaken and started some time ago. The rule of law in the Caribbean area is very important and the priority is to do away with what we call the inefficient and corrupt investigative system and even justice systems, so that we do not see a disruption of our democracy, we do not see disruption of security, [or] disorder coming here,” the Minister of Public Security stated.
He reminded those gathered that the lack of good policing mechanisms and efficient prosecuting would result in the country’s image being damaged, while noting that trade and investment would also be affected. The minister said he is impressed by the Criminal Justice Programme and noted that participants will also be trained in the area of civil rights. “The civil rights training… we have come across what has happened in certain incidents, allegations of police taking some rather uncouth steps towards getting certain evidence and, of course, appreciation of the civil rights during the course of interrogation and investigation is so important,” remarked Ramjattan.
He said the three-year programme will see efforts being made to standardise law enforcement by public agencies and to enhance the skills and knowledge of prosecutors relative to investigations, statement taking and making, examination in chief and re-examination to name a few.
“We know that indeed there are a number of deficiencies and defects and deficits, but we are so happy that the American Embassy and of course…other countries in the ABC doing this great lot in ensuring that we do have this greater construction of the rule of law,” said Minister Ramjattan. Also present at the simple ceremony were Chancellor of the Judiciary Carl Singh, Director of Public Prosecutions Shalimar Ali-Hack, along with the heads of missions of the United Kingdom, Canada and Europe.