The jails of Guyana will always be filled

Mar 21, 2016 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

The sentencing policies of some magistrates and some judges both now and in the past have contributed to the perception that changes in sentencing policy can lead to a reduction in the number of persons on remand and by extension to overcrowding in our jails.
A few years ago there was a situation in which consistently there was a magistrate who would often refuse bail to persons on their first hearing but would grant bail on the second hearing.
It seemed strange that bail was denied on the reading of the charges but on a subsequent hearing it would be granted.
Yet no one asked what could have interceded in between to have allowed for a reconsideration of the bail application.
The perception therefore has been embedded in the minds of many people, including now it seems government officials, that if the sentencing and bail policies of the courts are revised it can lead to a reduction in the prison population.
This is, however, a misidentification of the problem. It is not the sentencing policy of the courts that are at fault –even though there is some need for revision.
The problem is our laws which limit the discretion of magistrates in granting bail. Our narcotics laws for instance make it mandatory for persons to be denied bail for trafficking and on conviction it is mandatory imprisonment.
The magistrates are being blamed and criticized for remanding persons charged with certain drug offences and for sentencing persons to three to four years of imprisonment for others. These laws grant very limited discretion to magistrates to offer bail for these offenses.
It is therefore not the magistrates or the sentencing and bail policies of the judiciary that are the problem. The problem is the law and it is for the legislature to take steps to remedy this problem. This does not mean decisions from the bench should not be criticized.
There have been instances in which there have been justifiable criticisms of some decisions to either deny or grant bail as well as some of the harsh sentences imposed on persons found guilty of offenses.
But unless there are changes to our laws granting magistrates greater discretion and making it less mandatory for persons to be either denied bail to sentence to certain terms of imprisonment, it makes no sense for the government to be having talks with the judiciary on the overcrowding of prisons.
In any other country, the mere sight of members of the government having discussions with the judiciary would raise alarm bells about the separation of powers.
The laws of Guyana have to be changed if overcrowding of our jails is to be reduced. A member of the Alliance for Change (AFC) was expected to bring a private Bill to the National Assembly to amend Guyana’s anti- narcotics act so as to reduce mandatory sentencing and denial of bail.
This was to have happened in December. It is now approaching April and no such Bill has been laid and does not seem likely to be laid.
Law changes however will only provide short-term relief. It will help out for the next five years but overcrowding will continue because we live in a country where there are far too many persons engaged or willing to engage in criminal activities. Guyana is crawling with thief men and bandits.
You park your bicycle in front of a store in the busy commercial district. You lock it and go into the store. When you come out it is gone. There are many persons who do not have money in their pockets to buy a soft drink yet they are walking around this country with cellular phones each worth tens of thousands of dollars.
People cannot reap what they plant in this country. Persons sit down next to you in a mini bus and pick your pockets.
If you leave your gate open, somebody will come in and rifle through your garbage bins. People steal toilet paper in this country.
A great many of these crimes are not reported to the police because there is little chance of catching the culprits. The police are overwhelmed by the crime in the country.
If law enforcement improves, more people will be brought to trial and even if the laws are amended to make bail more affordable, many of the petty thieves would be unable to post bail.
The answer to our problems therefore has to be to change the culture of dishonesty in our country. People have to stop stealing from others.
Crime is an institution in this country. To change that culture will require more than changes to our laws. And once this culture is not changed, the jails will overflow once there is continuous improvement in law enforcement.

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The jails of Guyana will always be filled

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