– Stakeholders’ training commences
– Approved offences in process of being finalised

THE Drug Treatment Court is expected to be established in the last quarter of 2019, at the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court, and the pilot project will be an adult treatment court utilizing a post-adjudicating model.

This is according to acting Chief Justice Roxanne George-Wiltshire, during her address at the opening ceremony of the Drug Treatment Court training, held on Monday, at the Pegasus Hotel.

“The location of the court which will be in the Georgetown’s magistrate court building will permit easier access to resources and personnel, including stakeholders such as the police, social services, health and drug treatment providers to facilitate the efficient operation of the court,” the Chief Justice said.

Justice George Wiltshire said the goals of the drug treatment court are to: promote public safety and the wellbeing of society; provide treatment and support for eligible substance abusers and drug dependent offenders; provide alternatives to incarceration and reduce the cost of prison.

She noted that it will be an adult treatment court utilizing a post-adjudicating model which means that the defendant must have pleaded guilty, or found guilty of an approved offence, in order to be eligible to participate in the treatment programme that the court will facilitate as an alternative to incarceration.

The Chief Justice (ag) said the Drug Treatment Court is an important aspect of the national drug strategy master plan and the approved offences are in the process of being finalized.
She said that the focus will be on non-violent and summary offences and will represent diversion as a response to criminal activity and defendants who are amenable to such.
Underscoring that the reasons for having such a court are multi-dimensional, the Chief Justice said that research and evidence indicate that there has been, and continues to be a growing number of persons who interface with the criminal justice system in Guyana on account of being substance abusers.

She said that the substances of choice are cocaine, marijuana, alcohol and, to a lesser extent, ecstasy.

“Many of these defendants have committed non-violent offences to which the usual response of incarceration is not the most beneficial. International and regional experience have demonstrated that treatment of substance abusers is a better response than imprisonment,” the Chief Justice noted.

This response, the Judge said has been implemented in Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, the Bahamas and Barbados.

“These territories have shown that drug treatment courts provide a holistic response to rehabilitation and needs of non-violent offenders in particular who are drug abusers, and our courts will follow the same model, will allow the collaboration of a team of persons to support the offender in his or her rehabilitation,” the Chief Justice said
This team, she said, will consist of: a Magistrate, State Counsel, Police Prosecutor, police officer, social service or probation officer, Defence counsel, substance abuse treatment provider and any other person the team may require to ensure that the offender stays the course of the contract he/she voluntarily agrees to in order to successfully graduate.
The sentences for those who successfully complete their treatment programme, the Chief Justice said, would be significantly reduced or vary and imprisonment would not be imposed.

“Drug treatment courts are therefore problem- solving courts, and are a part of a concerted effort, in judicial systems, to see substance abusers who have contact with the law, and therefore with the court as persons who are in need of a more caring and supportive environment and court experience,” Justice George Wiltshire said.

She said the drug court follows the establishment of the Family Courts, Sexual Offences Court and the Children’s Court as specialize courts that focus on serving the needs of the individual who interacts with the court.

Meanwhile, National Anti-Narcotics Agency (NANA) Director, Major General (ret’d), Michael Atherly said that the international organisations gave assistance to several countries that have made improvements in substance abuse treatment efforts.
The Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD), he said, has supported the establishment of several drug treatment courts across the hemisphere.
He said some of the main issues affecting society are: trafficking in cocaine, cannabis cultivation, alcohol and drug abuse and violent crimes.
These issues, altogether, constitute the most single instrument of crime leading to public fear in society.

“Over and above that however, our existing situation in our prison system has made the drug treatment court quite attractive to Guyana. This workshop signals another important phase in cooperation and collaboration between OAS, CICAD and Guyana and it is intended to support the implementation of alternatives to incarceration, a programme derived from CICAD hemispheric drug strategy and with adjustments make up a part of our own national drug policy master plan,” Atherly said.

He said that the drug treatment court model was established out of the need to solve the frequent and persistent problem that drug-related cases create for court systems and prisons.

As such, he said that the drug court system is seen as a court that deals specifically with offenders who have committed offences under the influence of drugs.
“It offers a substitute for jail and in our particular case, a seriously overcrowded jail,” he said.

He said that “the role of the police is likely to change from one whose only interest is in prosecuting an offender to the full extent of the law, to one that takes on the added dimension of assisting an offender to embark on a life- changing experience,” the NANA Director said.

As such, Atherly said this will involve a change in mindset of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) and Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) that enable them to recognise the long-term benefits of recommending an offender to participate in the drug rehabilitation programme.
Atherly said drug treatment courts embrace the idea of the court being used as a soothing and curing tool that is used to aid the accused instead of punishing them.
He said the court will be less costly and a more effective system that will promote public safety while reducing crime and violence in society.