ATTORNEY-GENERAL and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, SC, has said that the modernised framework governing the enforcement of foreign judgements, has paved the way for expanded international co-operation and new bilateral agreements with countries across different legal systems.

Nandlall made this known while speaking on the ‘Starting Point’ podcast, where he explained that the updated Foreign Judgments (Reciprocal Enforcement) Act, passed in 2023, replaced an outdated law.

That reform, he said, was essential to ensure that Guyana remains aligned with global standards in the recognition and enforcement of court rulings across jurisdictions.

“No country is an island. The world is a very integrated place, so it doesn’t take a brain surgeon to figure that you must have a mechanism in place internationally that allows judgements validly and obtained in a court of competent jurisdiction in country A to be able to be enforced in country B, and you must have a reciprocal type of arrangement in place between these two countries, because they are sovereign nations,” he said.

Nandlall noted that the country’s previous legislation was inherited from the colonial era and was limited in its application.

“This has been done since we were a colony. You had an old foreign judgment, Reciprocal Enforcement Act, dating back to the 1920s signed between Great Britain and many other countries. And at that time, we would have been a colony, so we would have received that law. So, all the countries that were signatory with England to have English court judgements obtained in English courts enforced in those countries, Guyana inherited that,” he explained to listeners.

The AG explained that the government’s decision to repeal the old act and enact a modern version was part of broader legislative reforms aimed at strengthening investor confidence and ensuring fairness in cross-border transactions.

“We repealed that act in 2023, and we passed a modern enforcement of [the] Foreign Judgment Act. As I said, it’s a model legislation. I believe we got it from CARICOM, and we included it in the schedule of countries about nearly 150 countries. So, Guyanese judgments can be enforced in about 150 countries,” Nandlall stated.

According to him, this expanded legal network will provide reassurance to businesses and investors that Guyana’s legal system is internationally recognised and enforceable.

“I think that’s a very important point, because it inspires confidence in the business community too, and that is why it was done, because Investor A can come here, run up a liability, have very limited or no assets in Guyana, pack up shop and disappears to Australia, but we have that agreement with Australia, and we can enforce in Australia,” he explained.

However, Nandlall noted that while the legislation provides the framework for enforcement, the next phase involves concluding new bilateral arrangements with countries where such agreements do not yet exist.

“There are countries on that list that we may have to have an agreement with and is something that we will begin to work on, like we never had these types of relationships with, a country like China, because we come from a different legal system,” he said.

He added, “So you add countries there that we never had that type of relationship with…we have to get those concluded, but the legislation is there, the framework is there. All we got to do now is to conclude bilateral arrangements with countries where we don’t have those arrangements currently, and we didn’t have them historically.”