ATTORNEY General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, SC, has said that Guyana is moving to replace its colonial-era 1898 Evidence Act with a modern legislative framework.
The new framework could significantly change how evidence is handled not only in the courts, but also in arbitration, commissions of inquiry and administrative proceedings.
Nandlall, on Thursday, described the existing legislation as “wholly outmoded,” arguing that it was developed for a different era and no longer adequately reflects the realities of modern law and the evidential arena.
“We have an 1898 United Kingdom Evidence Act, currently being the Evidence Act of Guyana. That can’t, by no stretch of the imagination, be the law that will govern us in the next few decades going forward,” Nandlall said.
He noted that while amendments were made to the legislation about two decades ago to facilitate the admission of computer-generated documents, the development of technology and modern legal practices has since moved well beyond those changes.
According to the Attorney General, the need for a new Evidence Act is particularly important because evidence is central to the determination of cases and factual disputes before courts.
He explained, “Evidence is one of the most crucial areas of law and litigation. It is evidence that determines what a court will accept in order to determine a particular fact in issue, in order to determine a particular case.”
Nandlall warned that retaining an outdated evidentiary framework could have a negative impact on the justice system.
He said, “So, if you have an outmoded Evidence Act, it’s going to have a horribly negative impact on the type and quality of justice your justice system produces.”
He described the proposed legislation as a priority undertaking, stressing that its impact would extend beyond conventional litigation.
According to him, the new Evidence Act would affect the way evidence is handled in litigation, arbitration and commissions of inquiry, as well as in other legal and quasi-legal proceedings.
He pointed out that evidentiary rules can also become relevant in administrative matters, including situations where a person is required to be given a hearing before being dismissed from employment.
“If, for example, you have to give a person a hearing before dismissing them, that simple exercise, or what may appear to be a simple exercise, requires the application and use of evidential rules,” Nandlall noted.
The Senior Counsel said the government intends to undertake consultations and public education before the new framework is implemented, given its potentially broad impact on the country’s legal and administrative processes.
He said the proposed framework is based on legislation implemented in Australia and New Zealand, which he described as representing a modern approach to evidence law.
Nandlall also identified Barbados as the first country in the Caribbean to have implemented the framework.
“It is considered to be the most modern expression of the law,” he emphasised.
He also emphasised the need for consultations and public education, given the fundamental changes the new framework could bring to the way evidence is handled and decisions are made across the country.
“We have to do consultations, we have to bring public awareness and public education to this new framework because it will have a very, very fundamental impact on the way we do things as a people and as a country,” he said.
He said consultations on the proposed legislation are expected to begin shortly, as the government moves towards modernising Guyana’s evidentiary laws.
The People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) Government has been pursuing an aggressive legislative agenda, with several major pieces of legislation aimed at reforming Guyana’s legal framework and addressing emerging social, economic and technological issues.
