–to help address, inter alia, overcrowding at the jails

THE sum of US$3.3M has been allocated to the Ministry of Legal Affairs to help with reducing the use of pre-trial detention.

The money at reference is part of a US$8M loan, which was granted to the government by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) back in February, and will be used to get the proposed project off the ground.
With Guyana facing an uphill battle, given the backlog of thousands of cases, it is anticipated that through this project, there will be a significant reduction in the high concentration of the prison populations here.

The overall purpose of the project is to reduce the use of pre-trial detention of persons accused of minor and non-violent offences by aggressively promoting the use of alternative sentencing options such as probation, community service, restitution and fines.

The intervention will also seek to ensure that our public institutions responsible for the administration of justice are effective, transparent and accountable.

Specifically, Component One of the project seeks to address institutional challenges that have contributed to the high proportion of persons who are detained while awaiting their trial.

Under this component, a project piloted by the Legal Affairs Ministry will be financed to provide legal assistance to persons accused of minor, non-violent offenses in pre-trial detention.

According to the IDB, training activities will strengthen legal representation skills among non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and other aid-providers. The financial institution explained that the programme may use supervised paralegals to provide support in various legal-aid tasks in prisons and police stations, such as seeking the dismissal of charges, arranging diversion where appropriate, or arguing for bail, and generally avoiding procedural delays.

“Preferences will be given to defendants facing charges for less violent crimes,” the IDB states in its contract with the Government of Guyana.

IMPLEMENTATION, EXECUTION
To provide for the successful implementation and execution of the project, this programme will finance, inter alia, an assessment of NGOs suited for provision of legal aid; an outreach and training programme to strengthen the legal representation skills of NGOs and individual legal-aid providers; and a study to set up quality standards for legal aid services, develop standardised training programmes, establish quality monitoring and evaluation mechanisms, and explore financial sustainability measures for a permanent legal aid provision system.

Said Component One will also seek to enhance the ability of the Department of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and police prosecutors to handle their cases before they proceed to trial.

Further, it will provide for the strengthening of the Magistrates Court level of the Judiciary by implementing a pilot project through which Magistrates will receive training on evaluating the appropriateness of alternative sentencing to certain cases; providing the Magistrates Court with a scheduling, case management system and Information Technology (IT) equipment to ensure swifter resolution of cases; and the implementation of a sensitisation and public awareness campaign to highlight the societal consequences of imprisonment, as well as the benefits of alternatives, in terms of social reintegration of offenders and public safety.

Finally, this component will also see the design and implementation of a restorative justice programme under the Legal Affairs Ministry to solve minor offenses or disputes through alternatives to trial.

In this area, financing will be provided for, inter alia, the procurement of furnishing and related equipment for a restorative justice centre; the design and implementation of a marketing strategy to disseminate the benefits of restorative justice processes; and a guide to the type of offences that should be subject of restorative justice processes.