WITH plans to continue fostering equal access to justice, greater accountability and improved efficiency, the government is pursuing major legislative and justice reforms to enhance public trust in the justice system.
Vice President and People’s Progressive Party (PPP) General Secretary Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, during a recent press conference, supported President, Dr. Irfaan Ali’s push for eroding unfair treatment by the courts.
Last Wednesday, President Ali said that his government is committed to building a system that is fair, predictable and efficient.
It is to this end that there will be a series of implementations to ensure this happens, coupled with evidence-based data management across all levels of the court system. The President also said case disposal and clearance rate standards will be introduced.
“The use of technology for all court operations, case management, human resources, maintenance of stores and a payment of maintenance, bail and fines electronically will be the main areas of focus over the next five years,” Dr. Ali said.
President Ali also emphasised the need for legislative changes in order to make judges, magistrates, as well as legal practitioners more accountable, and these will include robust disciplinary processes to ensure timely delivery of decisions in compliance with existing legislation, as well as the maintenance of high ethical and professional standards.
“Our citizens deserve no less. The case management system for the magistrates’ court is ongoing. The system is being developed in collaboration with the National Centre for State Courts of the United States Department of Justice. It is hoped that the system will be operational by mid-2026.
“The High Court does not have a backlog of civil cases any longer. And a paperless system is in place, allows for great efficiency in assignment of cases, eliminate dependence on the movement of case files, and permit access to files for cases 24 hours a day,” he said.
President Ali also noted that the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) is expected to fill key vacancies in the High Court and Magistrate Court, increasing the complement of commissioners of title in support of their rendering of timely decisions, and appointing more judicial research assistants who will be integral.
This, according to President Ali, will all strengthen the capacity of the courts to deal with cases more efficiently.
Within one month, he said the government will be launching the revised edition of the laws of Guyana. They will also be launching the law reports of Guyana from 2008 to 2021.
This is all part of the modernisation of the legal sector, President Ali said, noting that these initiatives will make Guyana’s laws easily accessible and more user-friendly to all citizens.
The law reports will ensure judges and members of the legal profession have available and accessible important decided cases to guide them in ensuring an improved quality of justice.
“Precedents are there for a reason. I want to repeat that. Precedence is there, for a reason. Matters are concluded at the highest level of a court and those decisions are recorded for a reason— so that justice is not delayed [and] so that important decisions are not delayed,” he said.
PREDICTABLE & FAIR
Vice President Jagdeo stressed that the reform is not about political interference but about restoring public confidence in the justice system.
“…If two men, persons go before the court and they both take my coffee here and take a sip of it and it’s illegal, and one will walk off with a sentence of a hundred years and the other one who is a little wealthier he could get off for free, so that sort of thing,” he said.
Dr. Jagdeo emphasised the importance of having the courts follow legal precedence and authorities, and highlighted the grave public concern that the wealthy often receive more lenient treatment compared to others.
“We have to make the sector more accountable, and we have to provide not just access by more courts across the country but to poor people too, that’s why [I] spoke of the expansion of legal aid,” he said, adding: “We don’t want a sycophantic judiciary. We don’t want that. We want a judiciary that acts responsibly and accountably and predictably too.”