–as National Assembly passes Court of Appeal Amendment bill

THE maximum number of judges sitting at Guyana’s Appeal Court is expected to increase as amendments to the country’s Court of Appeal Bill were passed in the National Assembly, on Monday.
The Court of Appeal (Amendment) Bill 2025 was read for a second and third time during the 102nd sitting of the Twelfth Parliament, during which Minister of Legal Affairs and Attorney General, Anil Nandlall S.C. highlighted that it is one that is small in size but has a significant impact on the country’s justice system.
The bill’s explanatory memorandum noted that it is to be amended to increase the maximum number of Justices of Appeal from nine to 11.
Nandlall told the house that the government has shown its continuous commitment to partnering with the judiciary, in resourcing the judiciary and providing a legislative framework for the judiciary to enable it to perform its constitutional roles and functions effectively.
The further tabling of the amendment, he said, is another initiative in ensuring support for the judiciary.

Nandlall highlighted that the Court of Appeal is one of the important upper echelons of the hierarchical structure of Guyana’s judiciary, as it is the court that is immediately below the highest court in the country’s system.
Since the initial establishment of the court, he stated that it had a quorum of not less than two judges and not more than five, and that was the composition of the court from 1966 up until 2023, when an amendment was passed to increase that maximum number to nine.
“We have had historically, a backlog in our judicial system, a backlog of cases and that problem has assumed national notoriety,” he added.

To this end, he indicated that decades were spent on crafting new initiatives and measures designed to address the issue and significant improvement and changes have been made.

Some of these measures include increasing the number of magistrates and the number of judges sitting at the Supreme Courts around the country to handle caseloads.
Against this backdrop, speaking on the specific amendment, he stated, “This small but important measure, as I said, will bring to the court of appeal a number of judges that can tackle some of the very, very important cases that are pending in the Court of Appeal of our country.”
This is an intervention that the public would greatly welcome, he added.