By Richard Bhainie

THE Attorney-General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, S.C., on Tuesday, wrote to a number of agencies inviting them to submit their nominees, to be considered for appointment to the Law Reform Commission.

This comes with the Law Reform Commission (Amendment) Act 2021 – No. 2 of 2021, which was passed in the National Assembly on February 11, 2021, receiving Presidential Assent on February 16, 2021, and therefore coming into effect thereof.

A Law Reform Commission is an instrumental body in any society as it ensures the legal system does not remain stagnant. It keeps the law under constant revision, and makes recommendations to Parliament for the repeal, creation, consolidation and codification of the laws.

The Law Reform Commission Act 2016 was enacted by the former A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) Government, and while Nandlall had commended the initiative, he had also heavily criticised sections of the legislation pertaining to the appointment of the commissioners.

“While in the opposition, we were vehemently critical of the appointment process and manner in which the commission was constituted, and we expressed those sentiments to the bill in the [2016] debates,” the Attorney-General had previously told this publication.

Prior to the amendment of the Act, for one to have been appointed a member of the commission, they must have possessed legal and judicial qualifications, must have been the holder of, or held judicial office; be an attorney-at-law for at least 10 years; or possess experience as a teacher of law at a university.

“That is a most myopic and unfortunate view of how a Law Reform Commission should be constituted,” Nandlall had noted, explaining that a commission of such nature must cater for every member of society.

While recognising that the Law Reform Commission must consist of legally-trained personnel, the Attorney-General had noted that law-making is much more than technical law; there are social components, financial components, cultural and ethnic components and rights components – to law-making.

The amendment to the Act caters for that diversity and inclusivity to be reflected as part of the commission, as it will allow for the commission to comprise persons who have a legal background as well as persons who have at least 10 years of experience in the areas of banking, industry, economics or commerce, social or natural sciences and law enforcement.

Nandlall had previously told this publication that this is important “so that when the Law Reform Commission sits, it sits as an organisation that not only represents the entire society, but is qualified to canvas the interest of the entire society”.

Section 4(1) (b) of the Act now requires the Minister of Legal Affairs to consult with the organisations that appear to represent the legal profession; the private sector; the trade union movement; the entities representing the interest of consumers’ affairs; the religious community; the Rights Commissions; and the National Toshaos’ Council for the appointment of members of the commission.

Nandlall has written to the Guyana Bar Association, the Berbice Bar Association, the Private Sector Commission, the Federation of Independent Trade Union of Guyana, the Guyana Consumers Association, the Inter Religious Organisation, Ethnic Relations Commission, Rights of the Child Commission, Women and Gender Equality Commission and the National Toshaos’ Council.

The letter dispatched to the agencies and the responses thereto will constitute the consultation required by section 4 (1) (b) of the Law Reform Commission (Amendment) Act. The organisations are to submit their nominees to the Ministry of Legal Affairs by March 22, 2021.