Latest update February 4th, 2025 9:06 AM
Clients, attorneys, judges dead, but High Court cases still pending
– over 6,000 backlog matters
There are approximately 6000 backlog cases in the High Court, including matters in which the judges, attorneys or clients have died. Some go back to ten years and are still to be heard.
“In some cases that go ten years back…the lawyer, the client and even judge are deceased….but the case is still pending,” a legal official explained.
Officials say that one contributing factor is that because of the low processing fee, people rush to court instead of trying to amicably resolve the issue. It is believed that if the processing fee is increased it would be a deterrent for persons. Moreover the low compliment of judges to deal with matters, adds to the backlog.
The High Court
Attorney General Anil Nandlall last year had stated that Guyana needed to amend its laws to see the appointment of new judges.
He said that it was patently obvious that the current legal complement of judges cannot deal with the case load that is currently pending in the judiciary. Nandlall had sought to highlight certain mechanisms which could result in the backlog decreasing. He said that the delay of cases is one of the major problems facing the judiciary and as a result of that, there is a tremendous backlog of cases which are in the system waiting to be heard. Alternative Dispute Resolution is one mechanism that was identified to tackle the problem.
The ‘Alternative Dispute Resolution ’system allows both parties to have the option to take voluntary mediation. According to Nandlall, judges are legally empowered to order mediation in appropriate cases. Nandlall stated that new legislation was already passed in Parliament. However, the administration is still in the process of setting up the infrastructure for the legislation to function.
Another mechanism Nandlall highlighted was the ‘New Rules of Court’. This measure was designed to ensure that the civil litigation is conducted in an expedient manner, thus the case, which is required to be tried by a judge, is clearly defined and the witness’ statements are prepared and submitted long before the trial.
The rules, Nandlall said, will in actuality help simplify the entire litigation process. Another initiative the lawyer gave was the abolition of the Preliminary Inquiry in serious criminal offences.
It was explained that in an agreement between the prosecution and the defence, the preliminary inquiry process, which usually takes years to be completed, can be dispersed with and the trial with a judge can begin at an earlier date.
The legislation for this has been passed in Guyana. Another mechanism can also be plea bargaining.
This is a relatively new piece of legislation, which allows the prosecution and defense to agree to a penalty, thereby there would be no need for a trial in a criminal matter. Nandlall also stressed that with the appointment of lay magistrates to deal with minor offences, trained magistrates can concentrate on more serious matters.
Further, the lawyer told Kaieteur News that the court system must also be computer-ready.
To this effect Nandlall said that there is already a plan to introduce into the court, a computer-generated recording system to record in permanent form what is orally said in the courtroom.
This new feature, Nandlall says, would remove the need for manual recording what transpires in the courtroom.
He said that the task continues to be a work in progress and new and more innovative mechanisms will have to be realized for the “backlog” issue to be successfully overcome.
The Modernization of Justice Administration System Programme focuses on reducing the backlog of cases, strengthening the Judicial Service Commission; enhancing the skills and productivity of judges, High Court administration, rehabilitation and physical improvement of court rooms and improvement to civil and criminal law procedures among other areas.
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