…focuses on reducing prison population, youth detention
With the aim of reducing the population within the local prison system, Trinidadian expert Peter Pursglove, SC, has returned for a second round of consultations this week in an effort to garner the relevant information and data to complete a study on alternatives to pre-trial detention.
Pursglove was contracted under the Government of Guyana and the Inter-American Development Bank’s Citizen Security Strengthening Programme (CSSP).
The consultant is currently meeting with a number of senior Government functionaries, members of the Judiciary and magistracy, technical officers from relevant Government departments and Ministries, along with stakeholders from civil society and Non-Governmental Organisations. These meetings started on July 24 and will conclude on July 28.
The study is expected to contribute to a reduction in prison overcrowding and prevent further criminalisation of youths, since it will contribute to the design of a structured pre-trial opportunity programme.
From the consultant’s preliminary consultations with stakeholders, it was recognised that currently there was no structured diversion programme in Guyana and that resources would have to be allocated by Government if such programmes were to be established. However, before proceeding to design and to implement such a programme, it is necessary to gather and analyse the relevant statistical and other types of information available relating to the various offender groups that may be targeted by any diversion programmes.
Among the consultant’s task are: reviewing criminal laws in order to flag for legislative review any offences that need no longer be classified as criminal acts or which may now be decriminalised; collecting and analysing the relevant statistical information relating to the various offender groups that may be targeted by any diversion programmes; and consulting on the possibility of developing a diversion strategy aimed at diverting certain types of offenders out of the criminal justice system.
He will also have to investigate the possibility of establishing a pilot diversion programme for the mentally ill to ensure that offenders with mental health problems who enter the criminal justice system are identified and directed towards appropriate mental health care; examining the prospects of establishing a diversion strategy for alcohol and substance abusers aimed at curbing alcohol and drug-related crime; and exploring possibilities for the use of restorative justice as a diversion mechanism and alternative to imprisonment in respect of matters that would otherwise be subject to criminal sanctions.
Citizen security and crime reduction are leading policy priorities of the Government of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana. In this regard, the Government, with assistance from the IDB, has developed a CSSP that focuses on the prevention and reduction of crime and violence, and Public Sector and civil society capacity building.
As part of the CSSP, the consultant was hired to conduct research on models and good practices in the field of pre-trial detention and specifically to explore and present alternatives to pre-trial detention that are harmonious with the criminal justice processes in Guyana.
