Restorative measures needed for effective justice system
Ranks of the Guyana Police Force at the workshop on Thursday
Ranks of the Guyana Police Force at the workshop on Thursday

–Attorney-General says

ATTORNEY-General (AG) and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, SC, said if Guyana is to have an effective justice system, restorative justice must be applied.

Attorney-General and Minister of Legal Affairs Mohabir Anil Nandlall, SC (DPI photo)

The Attorney-General was at the time addressing ranks of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) engaged in a ‘pre-trial detention, custodial sentencing and non-custodial alternative workshop’ on Thursday.

Nandlall said that in Guyana, the justice system is accustomed to the brutal aspects of punishment as prescribed by law, but according to experts in the field, such an approach has proven ineffective, and it’s high time we try something different.

“Now they are recommending a different approach; a softer approach. An approach that requires a little more engagement, and pursuing alternative method of punishment; alternative to imprisonment,” the attorney-general said, adding: “Pre-trail detention or alternative to pre-trial detention are all concepts that emerge from the precept from what restorative justice embraces.”

He said that aside from alternative sentencing, restorative justice goes deeper than just a lighter punishment for the person convicted.

Minster of Home Affairs Robeson Benn (DPI photo)

As he explained, “It examines the root cause of why the persons went into the criminal justice system in the first place, because, if those underlying factors are still there, and he goes into prison and he goes back to that environment and those underlying factors that precipitated his conflict with the law are still there, there is a likelihood that he will return.”

The workshop, Nandlall said, is a manifestation and demonstration of the government’s commitment to the Rule of Law, Constitutionalism and the Criminal Justice System.

Minister of Home Affairs, Robeson Benn took a similar position on the matter as the attorney-general, in that he, too, believes that many times when someone appears before the court, they are not first-time offenders.

That being the case, he feels that it is important to understand the underlying factors that causes one to take certain actions when they become part of the criminal justice system.

“I speak of the overall new paradigm we have to undertake, and which this activity represents in having a more empathetic; a more respectful engagement with our people,” Minister Benn said.

Deputy Commissioner of Operations, Clifton Hicken, who is performing the duties of Commissioner of Police, reminded ranks that they are the first point of contact a defendant has in the criminal justice system, and that as such, their partnership with institutions in the criminal justice system is paramount.

The workshop, which is being funded by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), falls under the “Support for the Criminal Justice System Programme”.

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