-Williams unveils packed agenda for AG Chambers

THE much-touted Law Reform Commission is expected to come on stream next year as well as a policy on alternative sentencing, Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Basil Williams has announced.

He was at the time making his contribution to the 2017 budget debate in the National Assembly last Thursday. Government earlier this year had used its majority in the National Assembly to pass the Law Reform Commission Bill 2015, which seeks to establish a permanent Law Reform Commission to reform and modernise Guyana’s laws. “The laws of Guyana are long overdue for review, as the majority were inherited from our colonial masters and have not been subject to reform since their inheritance,” Williams had said during the debate on the Bill.

“Many are archaic and irrelevant to our society,” he added, while emphasising that a permanent Law Reform Commission will work continuously to ensure that Guyana’s laws are fair, relevant and effective in serving and protecting the interests of the people. The bill, along with several amendments tabled by Williams, was passed despite pleas from opposition speakers for it to be referred to a parliamentary Special Select Committee for review. Williams had said then that in the past, approaches to law review in Guyana has mostly been reactive and the legislation will remedy what was an inefficient, piecemeal approach to law reform. He said the commission will comprise no less than three and no more than seven commissioners with a chairman to be elected by and from the members of the commission. The bill, he said, provides for commissioners to be appointed by the President acting after consultation with the Minister of Legal Affairs.

IDB Loan
Meanwhile, during his presentation in the House on Thursday, Williams disclosed that pending the approval of an Inter-American Development Bank Loan: Support for the Criminal Justice Sector Project, the Ministry of Legal Affairs intends to implement the Alternative Sentencing Policy, Establishment of a Permanent Law Reform Commission, and Needs Assessment for the Probation Department, Ministry of Social Protection and Study for Pre-trial detention. “To achieve these activities a project execution unit will be set up to spearhead implementation and monitoring,” said the Attorney General. Additionally, the Ministry of Legal Affairs has secured Regional Technical cooperation on cybersecurity for the development of a National Cyber Security Strategy and training and support for personnel through the IDB.

As a result, a team from the IDB which includes a specialist consultant on cybersecurity will visit Guyana to conduct a scoping exercise and to meet with all relevant stakeholders; namely, Ministry of Public Security, E-Governance, Ministry of Legal Affairs and Ministry of Public Telecommunications.

On the ministry’s agenda for next year is the recruitment and selection of appropriate professional staff to fill vacant positions currently existing in the Attorney General’s Chambers to accommodate the increase in workload. He told the House that 2017 will also see the training, coaching and a quality control system for the police, the Director of Public Prosecutions and Magistrates in Crime Scene Investigation, which falls under a grant by the Canadian Government which seeks to strengthen the Guyanese Criminal Justice System. Criminal Case Investigation, Forensic Video Analysis and understanding of trial management technique, will also form part of the project.

Hosting CFATF
Meanwhile, Williams said too that Guyana would be hosting a conference of the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) in November. Williams during his budget debate presentation told the National Assembly that there has been much obfuscation by the Opposition on Guyana’s position on the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) regime. He said his ministry was very successful in 2016 with regards to the particular issue and noted that when the APNU+AFC Government took office in May 2016, it “met Guyana, a threat to the international financial economy, it being in Third Round Mutual Evaluation.”

Williams cited the CFATF follow-up process, the CFATF/ International Co-operation Review Group (ICRG) process and the Financial Action Task Force (FATF)/ ICRG process noting that it was an “unprecedented position for any country in the CFATF 26 -member community.”
The Attorney General told the House that based on the political commitment made by President David Granger to FATF, he along with his compliance team took approximately one year to “remove Guyana out of its pariah-state status, again unprecedented, that is out of FATF’s Compliance Document and CFATF’s Public Statement.”

Guyana was cleared by CFATF less than one month after successfully exiting the FATF regime. In May 2014, CFATF handed Guyana over to the FATF due to the country’s failure to meet the agreed timelines in its action plan. However, significant progress was made resulting in the country being removed from the watchlist in October. The Attorney General referenced the President of FATF Juan Miguel Vega Serrano, who by letter dated October 28, 2016, congratulated Guyana on its progress in addressing the strategic AML/CFT deficiencies that were identified by FATF which included the action plan.

“Guyana will no longer be subject to the FATF’s monitoring under its on-going global AML/CFT compliance process. The country will work with the CFATF of which it is a member to further strengthen its AML/CFT regime,” the global body had said at the conclusion of a plenary held in Paris in October.
The Attorney General also referred the House to CFATF’s Public Statement, made in Providenciales, Turks and Caicos, on November 9, 2016, which indicated the jurisdictions that are no longer subject to the CFATF-ICRG Review Process-Guyana. Williams has since been elected to serve as Deputy Chairman of CFATF.

Williams outlined a number of key projects for his ministry last week during the debate on the 2017 budget, noting that 10 consultations will be held in the new year. Last year, consultations were held on the draft Cybercrime Bill 2016, the State Asset Recovery Bill 2016 and the Witness Protection and Protected Disclosures Bill 2016. Additionally, he said there will be country-wide sensitisation workshops on the State Assets Recovery Bill which targets agencies and Semi-Autonomous Agencies.

Law students
Additionally, the AG said Guyanese students attending the Hugh Wooding Law School will continue to receive financial assistance from the government towards their tuition. Williams reminded the house that his government inherited the uncertainty which beset law students who were unsure of whether they’d be able to enter HWLS to complete their legal education.
The former PPP/C administration had not offered students scholarships or financial assistance. President Granger intervened and obtained the assistance of the Heads of Government of CARICOM to enable the country’s 25 law graduates to gain entry.

“In 2016, a steep increase in the fees for the HWLS and the upfront payment scheme, added to the problems of our HWLS students. Again, the Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs intervened on their behalf and helped to alter the payment requirements to facilitate them.”

Cabinet has since approved 25 per cent of the total annual fees payment to the HWLS for 2016 to 2018 as a contribution, pending the exploration of establishing a law school in Guyana. “Mr. Speaker at the Council of Legal Education meeting in Antigua and Barbuda, September, 2016, Guyana was able to enter into a new Revised Collaboration Agreement for three years. Mr. Speaker, 25 Guyanese Law Graduates are guaranteed automatic entry to the HWLS up to 2019, and we are grateful for this success,” said the Attorney General.