—DPP says reforms have reduced delays, improved case management helped bring more recent matters before the courts faster

LONGSTANDING backlogs within Guyana’s criminal justice system are being significantly reduced, with the number of cases listed for the criminal assizes in the High Court falling from approximately 300 between 2020 and 2024 to just over 100 since 2025.
The disclosure was made by Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Shalimar Ali-Hack, during the launch of a training programme for prosecutors and investigators earlier this week.
Ali-Hack described the reduction as a major achievement for the justice sector, reflecting years of reforms and improvements aimed at increasing efficiency within the criminal justice system.
“Guyana was able to reduce the cases, particularly in the criminal assizes in the High Court. In between 2020 and 2024, we had like about 300 cases listed for assizes. From 2025, those have come down to like 100 and something,” she said.
According to the DPP, the reduction is the result of a range of interventions implemented across the justice sector to improve case management, accelerate the movement of matters through the courts and prevent new backlogs from developing.
“This is a remarkable improvement and it is a part of the results of all the justice improvement that we have been involved in,” Ali-Hack said.
“This has resulted not only in the reduction of the backlog, but what we are trying to do at the same time is to maintain a status quo so that we do not have the backlog building up again, so that persons will have timely trials. And that has been happening,” she added.
Ali-Hack pointed to the speed at which some serious criminal matters are now reaching trial as evidence of the progress being made.
“Next week, we will be empanelling in court a case, a murder which was committed just a year before last, and this is remarkable. We have had like other offences which were committed last year and persons have already had their trials,” she said.
The DPP explained that prosecutors have adopted a dual-track approach, simultaneously addressing older backlog cases while ensuring that newly committed offences are processed without unnecessary delay.
“In the criminal justice system, in the prosecution’s part, we have been running the two parallel, the backlog as well as the current cases,” Ali-Hack noted.
She also highlighted the role of the recently implemented Paper Committal Act, which is designed to streamline the process by which matters are prepared and transferred to the High Court for trial.
“With the new Paper Committal Act, that will ensure that that happens because since the Act came into being last year, we have already had matters come into the chambers and indictments preferred for their trial in the High Court,” she said.
According to Ali-Hack, the legislation is expected to further reduce delays within the criminal justice system while generating wider benefits.
“This will reduce a backlog of the cases and it will assist with the reduction of the prison population,” she said.
The significant decline in criminal assizes matters represents one of the most notable improvements within Guyana’s justice sector in recent years, with authorities now focused on ensuring that cases continue to move through the courts in a timely manner while preventing the re-emergence of backlogs.