Caribbean societies seem to have cycles of complacently drifting along without any movement for social, economic and political reform and then suddenly become alive with severe demands for development. This drive for development seems to emanate from society, though some credit could be given to political leadership. If the political leadership is astute enough to grasp the moment, they will provide creative leadership and sustainability.
In the last decade, Guyana had begun to evidence this developmental urge. It manifested itself in the widespread demand for democracy and under the APNU/AFC government, there was serious discussion regarding founding a Law School and the passing of the Law Reform Commission Act which was done in 2016. An office to house the Commission was rented, equipped and staffed at the cost of approximately $100 million but unfortunately, the Law School effort faded away and the Law Reform Commission was never appointed.
When the new government took office in August 2020, the Attorney-General (AG), Hon Anil Nandlall went into his post with great enthusiasm and, among other issues, turned his mind to Law Reform. He simplified Estate Administration procedures and embarked upon bringing the Guyana Law Reports up-to-date in collaboration with the Barbados Cave Hill Campus. He commended the last government for passing the Law Reform Commission Act, corrected the deficiencies in the Act and appointed the Commissioners in accordance with the stipulations of the Act after consultation with groups which included the Bar Association, the private sector, the religious communities, the rights commissions, the National Toshaos Council and the consumer community.
Mr Nandlall gave the raison d’etre of Law Reform and encompassing Commissioners with various skills in addition to Law: “Law Reform is imperative since it captures and embraces the aspirations, the exigencies, the social maladies and vicissitudes of society as it evolves so that at no point in time the Laws of our country become archaic, out of sync with modern reality and remains static while the development of the population moves ahead. . . Lawmaking is much more than technical Law since there are social, financial, cultural and ethnic components along with rights components. The amendments to the Act caters for the diversity and inclusivity to be reflected as part of the Commission”.
“The Law Reform Commission”, continued the AG, “is expected to hire researchers, social scientists, financial minds and persons trained in different disciplines who will constantly review issues arising in the country and then consider whether we could find a legislative solution”.
The Commission would be chaired by Retired Justice of Appeal, Hon B. S. Roy with Attorneys-at-Law Roopnarine Satram, Emily Dodson, Deenawattie Panday, Tini Housty, retired diplomat Clarissa Riehl and Educationist Dr Brian O’Toole.
The Guyana Consumers Association has identified a number of Laws that could be made consumer-friendly, and we will give three below:
First, the 12-year rule for prescriptive claims on land needs to be reviewed and extended to 20 or 25 years. This rule was adopted from English Legislation and was appropriate for an urban society but inappropriate for a rural society like Guyana, which has one of the highest outward migration rates in the world. When people emigrate, they pay their taxes and leave their property in the care of relatives or friends. For one reason or another, their property is not given the attention it should have, and when they return, they find squatters have gotten prescriptive rights over it. The State has protected its own property by making it impossible to prescribe on State land and now needs to extend such protection to citizens.
Second, several government offices or Local Government entities which are required to issue certificates of compliance that citizens would have paid their taxes so as to allow them to do other transactions misuse this authority by converting the issuance of this certificate into a tax. An actual example is the case of the Georgetown City Hall, which has to issue a certificate of compliance that a vendor who is passing a transport through the Deeds Registry would have paid his taxes to the Council. This compliance says not more than the vendor has paid his tax for which he had already been given a receipt. To issue that certificate, the City Treasurer charges a tax of .5 per cent of the value of the property and most properties are sold for millions of dollars. This issuance of a mere clerical certificate and treating it as a tax is exploitative and illegal and must be ended.
Third. The Attorney General made some welcome changes to the Estate Administration Law, but there is one change, if he could effectuate, would bring much relief to citizens. In the Law, it specifies that the lawyer who is doing the estate could collect 6 per cent of the estate’s value! If the estate is valued at $1 million or $50 million the client must pay 50 times what he would pay for an estate of $1 million and the amount of work has not changed in the least. Further, in such estate matters, the client does most of the work, such as getting the ancillary documentation etc and the main thing the lawyer does is making an affidavit. The government must immediately correct this unjust exploitation of citizens.
