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Justice Reform: A critical need for protection of Guyanese from abuse by the legal system
Dear Editor,
The greed of man knows no limits. So limits must be set. The Island nations are rampant with greedy politicians; selling out their countries for living the life in their mansions with their bodyguards and entourage of flashing lights and so on.
It is a ubiquitous phenomenon and not of politicians alone. But politicians are at the top of my list. Few countries are exempt from the greed phenomena of the politician. Recall that the MPs of the UK 2009 were found to be corrupt in the United Kingdom parliamentary expenses scandal.
In the UK systems of protection are in place for prevention of those crimes. It is credit to those systems that Ministers of Government were discovered abusing their positions and sanctioned. The same holds for the USA where an investigation is ongoing of a Presidency which sits in Government.
There is the greater opportunity for discovery and less opportunity for retribution in the UK and the USA, because there are systems which operate with great vigor to protect and not to be used for political victimization.
The EU as a collective unit is more able to protect the rights of its more vulnerable members. When a country wishes to stand alone internal systems have to be very strong. In Guyana a time of reckoning is at hand. Justice must be seen to be fair, equal and impartial.
The current state where two most senior jurists in the country are in acting positions does not lend to security of the Justice system which is in great need of reform. There must be in place strong internal systems for addressing the urgent need for justice reform in Guyana.
Archaic laws are causing harm to young people who should not be severely penalized, for example young people being put away for cannabis, a drug now legal in use in many countries including several of ours.
Yet loopholes in the system of justice seem to be found for the rich criminals who find escape from paying the penalty for their abhorrent crimes by means of the “Law”. Criminals return to ply their trade on the good decent people of Guyana who can only shake their head and wonder what did they do, to deserve this deluge of criminality in their homes.
The police who are doing an amazing job at picking up these rodents much watch in dismay to see them obtain bail and continue to ply their trade with impunity. I urge the Bar Association to be very active with following up on the call for the appointment of the Chancellor of the judiciary and Chief Justice and for ensuring the process for Justice Reform is put in place.
Respectfully
Dr. Davendra Anand Sharma
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