-Gov’t to offer scholarships for LEC studies

THE graduands of the Certificate in Advocacy and Evidence for Summary Courts and Prosecutor’s Course will be inducted into the Guyana Police Force (GPF) as sergeants before commencing their prosecutorial duties for the state.

This is according to Attorney-General and Minister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall, S.C., who recently met with the graduands to explain the mechanism for their induction into the state’s prosecutorial arm.

The Attorney-General explained that summary prosecutors who acquit themselves well will benefit from scholarships to pursue their Legal Education Certificate (LEC) at one of the region’s law schools. This will pave the way for them to become attorneys-at-law.

He explained that the graduands will be inducted into the GPF and given the rank of sergeant.

They will then undergo additional training for a period of three months to become acquainted with the rules, regulations and standing orders of the GPF, as well as the practical workings of Guyana’s Magistrate’s Courts.

This training will, in part, serve as an orientation for the prosecutors, informing them of pertinent information, including the GPF’s operational protocols, the chain of command, and how they are expected to conduct themselves as ranks of the GPF.

Explaining the rationale for this approach, the Attorney-General said that “police prosecutors have an audience and a right to prosecute by way of a statutory provision. So, we had to make the decision to induct these graduands into the police force, and to confer upon them a rank which has the statutory authorisation to stand before the court and prosecute, and we have made that decision.”

Additionally, the Attorney-General has written to the Chancellor of the Judiciary, Yonette Cummings-Edwards, seeking her permission to allow these persons to “don the garb” worn by attorneys, as opposed to police uniforms, when prosecuting in the Magistrate’s Courts.

FINANCIAL PACKAGE
The Attorney-General shared that the graduands, once they become prosecutors, will take home approximately $160,000 monthly. Their gross salaries, inclusive of allowances will amount to approximately $220,000.

These sums were arrived at through collaborative efforts between the Attorney General’s Chambers, the GPF and the Chambers of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

When asked by the graduands about the factors which informed this decision, and why a higher salary was not offered, Nandlall said “…we had to strike a delicate balance, being sensitive to the fact that you are within the public sector, and a police force which have prevailing remunerative realities. Therefore, for cohesion, harmony…etcetra, you cannot be parachuted into such an organisation and be conferred with a remuneration package that can be considered inconsistent with, or offensive to the remunerative regimes existing in the force.”

He also said that “we also have to ensure that you recognise that even within the…public sector level, we have remunerative realities of lawyers who are fully trained. I have even been informed that in the Police Force as well, you have police officers who have first degrees and masters as well, and even a third degree but are paid a police person’s salary…the package arrived at had to take into account all these realities. Between the DPP and the Police Force, we found what we consider to be a fair, just and equitable range.”

They will receive their remuneration as soon as they are processed and commence their training with the GPF.

“You are part of history. This is the first time that an initiative like this is being done anywhere in the Commonwealth, and as I have indicated to you in our discourses before, the Caribbean at least is watching and they are planning to do something similar. They are looking at Guyana as a pilot, and if we pull this off successfully, they will draw from our experience”, the Attorney-General said to the graduands adding that “They have already begun to borrow our syllabus and course materials.”

WORKING SPACE
The Attorney-General also shared future plans that will work to assist the future prosecutors as they dispatch their duties.

He said that the new edifice which will be built where the old Brickdam Police Station stood “will be…12 stories high. The DPP will also have a new building soon, where adequate facilities will be fixed for you to meet and brief witnesses. You will have a library. And once we can satisfy the demands, you will have assistants who will work on cases during the investigative stages. You will now help to build the cases.”