– under the COVID-19 emergency measures

Head of the National COVID-19 Task Force (NCTF), Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo, has hinted that the Bar Association of Guyana requests for lawyers to be listed as essential workers under the COVID-19 emergency measures would be granted.

While there has been no official update of the measures, the prime minister, in his Sunday column, ‘My Turn’, stated: “The latest addition to the list of essential service providers are attorneys-at-law, my erstwhile colleagues, who invariably venture out late at night to road-blocks, lock-ups and even quarantine centres in dedicated furtherance of the rule of law.”

He stated that the NCTF has been working to balance the social restrictions and the need to keep the economy open which has resulted in a constant review of the measures to make way for a “continuation of production and distribution of supplies, and to facilitate the uninterrupted delivery of a wider range of essential services”.

On April 17, the NCTF notified the public that the association made a formal request for lawyers to be permitted to work during the curfew hours of 18:00hrs to 06:00hrs.

Bar Association of Guyana, President, Attorney-at-Law, Teni Housty, had explained to this newspaper on Friday, that even though Guyana remains affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, access to justice and other legal services does not stop.

He stated that all persons who are part of the chain of access to justice should be able to facilitate the same and lawyers are an essential link of the chain.

“It is an opportunity that should not be denied to all practicing lawyers but it is not a situation that all practicing lawyers will necessarily utilise because not all practicing lawyers’ services will be required to address a number of the issues; there are specialist practitioners who would address some of these issues,” he had put forward.

He added: “The primary concern is dealing with clients who are in custody and who would require representation… not because a lawyer’s office is closed means that a client should be denied access to his/her lawyer.”

The last time the emergency measures were updated was on April 9, 2020. The preamble to the initial list of measures had made it clear that it could be terminated, extended or amended by notice of the Minister of Public Health, after an assessment of the conditions.