THE Government of Guyana has already initiated efforts to revise and consolidate all of the laws of Guyana, “including principal and subsidiary legislation in force, as at December 31, 2022”.

This is according to a statement issued on Saturday evening by the Ministry of Legal Affairs, which explained that the exercise, which has an approved duration of 12 months, commenced on February 21, 2022, and will conclude on February 20, 2023.

“This consolidation and revision exercise is a collaborative effort between the Law Revision Commission 1, a Unit within the Attorney-General’s Chambers and the Ministry of Legal Affairs, and the Improved Access to Justice in the Caribbean (IMPACT Justice) Project, and will be executed by the Regional Revision Centre Inc., an Anguillan company,” the statement elaborated.

It also highlighted the view of Attorney- General and Minister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall that “this consolidation and revision process, taken together with several other transformative initiatives currently underway, will deliver on a Manifesto promise to modernise the legislative landscape”.

The last consolidation and revision exercise was executed prior to 2012, thereby producing the 2012 Revised Edition of the Laws of Guyana.

“That process took place nearly 12 years ago, and a plethora of new laws have been promulgated since. Incorporating those laws into principal legislation, and the consolidation of them have become necessary,” the press statement said, pointing to the fact that the time is therefore ripe to produce a new volume of the Laws of Guyana which is current, comprehensive, and accurate.

“Quite importantly, this process will also see the rectification of several deficiencies which afflicted the last revision exercise,” the legal affairs ministry noted.

To facilitate the required work, the Attorney-General’s Chambers and Ministry of Legal Affairs, through the IMPACT Justice Project, has committed to supplying the Regional Law Revision Centre with several pieces of documents.

These include electronic and printed copies of the last (2012) Revised Edition of the Laws of Guyana; a copy of the Consolidated Index of the Laws of Guyana for the revision periods 2009, 2010 and 2021; and the Gazette publications of the Laws of Guyana for the revision period December 31, 2010 to December 31, 2021.

The ministry, in its statement, informed that once the current consolidation and revision exercise is completed, the Regional Law Revision Centre will provide Guyana with completed electronic (MS Word and PDF versions) files of revised and consolidated Laws of Guyana as at December 31, 2022.

“These files will then be used to produce the 2022 Revised Edition of the Laws of Guyana,” the release posited.

It continued, “Access to justice requires access by the people of Guyana to the laws which affect their daily lives. As such, in keeping with current policy, the 2022 Revised Edition of the Laws of Guyana will be made available on the website of the Attorney-General’s Chambers, and physical copies will be made available to key stakeholders.”

When the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) assumed office in August 2020, after five years of being out of government, it recommitted to modernising the country’s legislative structure.

To this end, in addition to revising and consolidating Guyana’s laws, efforts are also afoot to execute a comprehensive reform.

As a matter of fact, it was only in August 2021 that President Dr. Irfaan Ali swore in members of the country’s first-ever Law Reform Commission (LRC).

The activation of this very important commission paves the way for incremental legislative amendments that would essentially bring Guyana in alignment with global legislative trends.

The existence of the reform commission goes a far way in ensuring that Guyana’s legal system is constantly updated and not as stagnant as it has been for many years.

The members of the current Law Reform Commission include its Chairman, Justice of Appeal (Ret’d) Beasraj Singh Roy; Vice-President of the Guyana Bar Association (GBA) Teni Housty; former High Commissioner of Guyana to Canada Clarissa Riehl; Veteran educator and proprietor of Nations Incorporated Dr. Brian O’Toole; and Attorneys-at-Law Emily Dodson, Roopnarine Satram, and Deenawatie Panday.