–crucial for legal modernisation
TODAY, May 17, the National Assembly will deliberate and pass several key bills, including new arbitration and plea-bargaining legislation, reflecting the government’s commitment to modernising the country’s legal framework.
Minister of Legal Affairs and Attorney-General, Anil Nandlall, S.C., highlighted the importance of these bills during his programme “Issues in the News” on Tuesday.

“We have said, and I have stated repeatedly that we are in the process of modernising the legal architecture of our country that the transformational developments that are taking place in our country cannot be accomplished without the legal framework. Almost every important sector in which we are pursuing these transformational projects require a statutory legislative framework… that will be the foundation upon which these projects are going to be constructed,” he said.

According to him, as Guyana continues to transform, it is imperative that the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) government “aggressively” works to put those frameworks in place- however, Nandlall said this is twofold.
“We have to dismantle the arcing architecture of laws and replace them with modern legislation so in the commercial and legal arena of our country.

Like every other sector, we are experiencing a transformational change as a result, we have to introduce new laws. We have to update our laws and introduce new legal processes that are in keeping with the modern realities of today’s commercial world,” he said.

The Arbitration bill, which is an act to facilitate domestic and international arbitration by encouraging the use of arbitration as a method of resolving disputes is expected to be moved by Nandlall on Friday for a second reading.
Set to establish Guyana as a hub for commercial arbitration, as well as facilitate job creation and revenue generation, the Bill provides guidelines for domestic and international arbitration.

Arbitration is a form of alternative dispute resolution that sees the parties involved in a dispute agreeing to have the case heard by one or more arbitrators entrusted with making a legally binding decision on the matter.
According to Nandlall, the act itself is about 150 years old, which government will be doing a repeal.

This new bill is the first incarnation of a model Caribbean legislation recently produced. But most importantly, it has had the input of many arbitration experts in the United States of America, including two of the more established law firms in North America.

Another bill to be read the second time on Friday, is the Criminal Procedure (Plea Discussion, Plea Agreement, Plea Assistance Agreement) Bill and the Paper Committal Bill which seeks to abolish preliminary inquiries (PI) in the Magistrate’s Court for indictable criminal offences in a bid to reduce the time persons facing capital offence charges spend on remand while awaiting trials in the High Court.

With the abolishing of PIs, the long backlog of cases at the High Court and having persons languishing on remand in prison should be addressed.
In the case of the plea-bargaining legislation, Nandlall said that Guyana has a modern Plea-Bargaining Act. He, however, opined that it has not worked and as such, the State has commissioned a review of the law.

“This plea-bargaining law is intended to bring speed to the system to bring efficiency to the system and to save billions of dollars in judicial resources. It allows the prosecution and the accused person to sit and work out a deal if the accused person wants to plead guilty then that deal is entered into, but there are a number of safeguards the victim interest has to be taken into account,” he said.

Nandlall further related that a plea-bargaining to a bargaining can even take place before charges are instituted, over even turning them witnesses for the state to ensure convictions and to ensure a fair system.
“This is not intended to water down or to dilute the system of punishment for wrongdoers.

It is to ensure that interest is served. All plea deals must end up in the court and the court will either object or adopt and ratify the deal,” he said.
Another important bill is the amendments to the Fugitive Amendment Act which, when passed, will strengthen Guyana’s extradition laws.

“So, when persons commits an offence in Guyana and is in the United States of America, we can make that request of the Americans and they will send that person back to stand trial in Guyana,” he said.
Also on the cards is the Sea and River Defence Bill which will repeal the old act to make provision for protection from inundation from the sea or rivers and to provide for the establishment, construction and maintenance of sea and river defences, natural defences and to provide for related matters.