EU supports Govt on judicial reform

…AG calls for part-time Judges to reduce backlog

Legal Affairs Minister and Attorney General Basil Williams have indicated that the delegation from the European Union will be forging a partnership with the Government of Guyana to initiate a reform of the Laws of Guyana and the judicial system.

The AG met with the Head of Delegation of European Union to Guyana Ambassador Jernej Videticon on Monday. During the meeting it was posited that the partnership will see reform of the Laws of Guyana, address the backlog of cases in the court system and also address the issue of access to justice.

Speaking with the media, the Attorney General disclosed that a proposal was made to use the constitutional provision to appoint part-time judges to address the issue of the backlog of cases.

“If we have four judges working for a period of six months it would be beneficial in addressing the backlog,” the AG said. The Minister further said that with respect to criminal cases, voice recording is needed in the criminal assizes, since it is very important, as it would speed up trials.

In addition, the AG spoke of the new Civil Procedure Rules, which has been in the implementation stage for some time now but is yet to be fully operational. The new rules will simplify the litigation process and are a major step towards reducing the number of cases which go to court, as well as curbing long delays in the hearing of civil litigation cases.

Another strategy the Attorney General said that is being used to address the backlog of cases is that of paper committals. “They started well, but a number of Magistrates have not been implementing paper committals, as they will speed up Preliminary Inquiries” he said.

A much needed reform of the Laws of Guyana is set to take place, the Minister disclosed, and added that a permanent law reform commission will be established to update laws.

Ambassador Videticon noted his satisfaction with the reform process, adding that the reform of laws will be addressing various human rights issues, including the death penalty. He further stated that the Attorney General will be invited to a conference in November to address the issue of abolishing the death penalty.

The Minister in response underscored the Government’s position to the death penalty, since according to him this is an issue of conscience, same as that of corporal punishment and same-sex marriage. The Minister pointed out that the proposals put forward will be provided for in the 2016 Budget which is scheduled to be presented in January.