–Canadian consultant to support development of national traffic offenders registry

ATTORNEY General Anil Nandlall, SC, has outlined an expansive programme of reforms aimed at modernising Guyana’s criminal justice system, warning that crime across the Caribbean is now being treated as a “public health hazard” requiring urgent and coordinated action.
During his address at the opening of the Partnership of the Caribbean and the European Union on Justice (PACE Justice) programme on Monday, Nandlall said the initiative aligns closely with the government’s broader push to transform the justice sector through legislative reform, digitalisation and institutional strengthening.
He credited the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the European Union (EU) for supporting reforms through the PACE Justice Project, which targets long-standing inefficiencies in the system.
“The PACE Justice Project is one of the key projects which aligns with the Government of Guyana’s objective to modernise the criminal justice sector,” he said.
According to the Attorney General, persistent backlogs in criminal cases stem from systemic weaknesses, including poor data capture, paper-based processes and limited digital integration across agencies. These issues, he noted, have slowed the work of investigators, prosecutors and the courts.
To address this, government agencies have begun benefitting from new digital tools.
“The hardware will ensure swift preparation of documents for cases… and the software will facilitate the recording of testimony in Magistrates’ Courts and faster communication between agencies,” he said.
Nandlall also pointed to legislative progress stemming from earlier justice reform initiatives, including the introduction of the Restorative Justice Act and the abolition of preliminary inquiries, with the introduction of the Criminal Law Procedure (Paper Committals) Act.
These measures, he said, are already improving efficiency and reducing delays. At the regional level, he emphasised that crime has taken on new urgency.
“At the level of the Heads of Government of CARICOM, crime is now accepted as a public health hazard in the Caribbean,” he stated.
Guyana, he added, is playing a leading role in restorative justice, with offices already established in six regions and plans to expand nationwide by year-end.
The Attorney General also detailed a suite of upcoming legislative reforms, including amendments to the Sexual Offences Act to introduce a sex offenders registry, and a new Evidence Bill designed to accommodate modern technological realities.
Guyana continues to operate under the archaic Evidence Act 1893, a colonial-era law that has long been criticised for being outdated and ill-suited to modern evidentiary standards.
“We have a new bill now… that will embrace all the modern technological advances… and allow for the easy admission into evidence of computer-generated documents,” he said.
Further, he highlighted efforts to digitise law enforcement systems, including the creation of a traffic offenders registry that will allow magistrates to access prior convictions in real-time when making decisions.
He explained that government is developing a centralised digital registry of traffic offenders, beginning with data input from the Guyana Police Force, supported by a Canadian consultant. The system will compile comprehensive records of traffic violations so that repeat offenders can be easily identified.
He said the system will enable sentencing and licensing decisions to be made with access to a full record of an offender’s history.
He gave a practical example. Currently, a person may appear before a court with multiple prior convictions, but the magistrate may not have access to that full record. With the new system, that gap will be closed.
“The magistrate will type in the name and make a more informed decision in accordance with the law,” he explained, noting that the system is intended to strengthen consistency in penalties and improve road safety enforcement.
He also linked the initiative to wider reforms in licensing, including provisions that allow for suspension or revocation of driving licences for repeat offences of specific types.
Looking ahead, Nandlall warned of emerging threats such as cybercrime, noting that Guyana is actively involved at the international level in shaping new legal frameworks.
“The world is facing that massive challenge… and we are borrowing from experiences in more advanced countries,” he said, referencing work underway at the United Nations to develop a global cybercrime treaty.
He also revealed plans for updated anti-money laundering legislation ahead of Guyana’s next evaluation by the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) in 2027.
Despite the breadth of reforms, Nandlall stressed that capacity building remains essential.
Since taking office in 2020, the PPP/C Government has advanced an extensive legislative agenda focused on modernising Guyana’s legal and institutional framework, with reforms spanning criminal justice, digitalisation of public services, and strengthened regulatory systems to improve efficiency, accountability, and access to justice.