–as National Assembly resumes with high-impact agenda

BASED on the Order Paper for the 50th Sitting of the National Assembly during the Twelfth Parliament today, lawmakers will debate a number high-impact areas including the constitution reform commission, suicide prevention, and criminal justice reforms, among others.

Constitutional Reform
Taking a closer look at Guyana’s constitution as far as inclusive governance and elections management are concerned was a promise of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) in its manifesto for the 2020 elections.

The Constitution Reform Commission, according to the Bill, will review Guyana’s supreme legal document to provide for future and current rights, duties, liabilities, and obligations of Guyanese.

Tabled by Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance, Gail Teixeira, in August on behalf of Attorney General Anil Nandlall, S.C., the Bill, once enacted into law, will provide for the Commission to receive, consider and evaluate submissions for the changes to the Constitution. Those recommendations will then be submitted to a standing committee for consideration by the National Assembly.

Suicide Prevention
Health Minister, Dr Frank Anthony brought the Suicide Prevention Bill to the National Assembly in July. The Bill proactively takes on the issue of suicide which Guyana has been recognized for globally as having one of the highest per capita rates for suicide.

The Bill provides for a multisector, interdisciplinary approach to suicide prevention through, in part, the creation of the special commission. That commission, which will comprise both medical and non-medical stakeholders, will be tasked with creating a suicide-prevention plan for the country.

Further, the Bill seeks to protect the privacy of and also provide support for families and communities affected by suicide. Counselling has also been prioritized for families and communities which have been exposed to the death of a relative by suicide. Further, according to the Bill’s explanatory note, once it is passed into law, coroners must first declare a death as a suicide before it can be reported to the public.

Restorative Justice
Two Bills relating to criminal justice reform, the Bail Bill and Restorative Justice Bill, will also be up for debate.

Restorative justice places emphasis on equal concern for crime victims and offenders, focussing more on the harm done to the involved parties rather than the violation of the law.

AG Nandlall had said on numerous occasions that criminologists, sociologists and psychologists play major roles in the criminal justice system.

“[They] have done all the analyses and have concluded that the traditional and conventional punitive penal sanctions that we have been administering in the world for the past century have not been as effective as they should have been.

“Therefore, they are exploring newer, more modern concepts of a softer nature directed more to the rehabilitative component rather than the punitive component of punishment,” the AG said during the closing ceremony of the Citizen Security Strengthening Programme (CSSP), on Friday.

The Bail Bill, on the other hand, will address the granting and refusal of bail to persons before the court. Consideration of bail has long been criticized by legal professionals and laypersons as inconsistent. This current Bill addresses that question of consistency, and will also prescribe changes to the timeline for detention of persons by the police from 72 hours to 24 hours.