Prosecutor’s code should involve widespread consultations– Former AG

Dec 02, 2018 News

While a Code for Prosecutors is a necessary and positive development in any legal system, the implementation of such mechanisms should include broad- based consultation especially by members of the legal fraternity.
This is the view expressed by former Attorney General, (AG) Anil Nandlall, who lauded the step taken to help provide guidelines to prosecutors acting in their various capacities.

Anil Nandlall

The Code which was launched on Tuesday is expected to lend support to the Guyana Police Force (GPF). It is the leading investigative body which works along with other agencies like the Customs Anti Narcotic Unit (CANU), the Guyana Energy Agency (GEA), National Insurance Scheme (NIS), and the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC), to institute charges.
The Code was drafted in collaboration with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). It sets out the tests that all prosecutors in Guyana will be expected to apply in determining whether criminal charges should be instituted.
It is based on the Constitution of Guyana, the Legal Practitioners Act, as well as the 1999 Standard of the International Association of Prosecutors.
A similar Code has already been implemented in the Caribbean Islands of Antigua and Barbuda, St. Kitts and Nevis, Barbados, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada, St. Lucia and Dominica.
Nandlall said that while such Codes have long been promulgated throughout the Commonwealth and indeed, in the United Kingdom, in many cases, it does not have the force of law.
“Such a code lends uniformity and will bring consistency and certainty in the standard used and principles considered when criminal charges are to be instituted.
Codes like these have been widely used by courts in determining whether charges which are instituted are lawful and valid and whether the prosecutors’ conduct is unfair, unreasonable, and arbitrary or influenced by irrelevant considerations ….”
The former AG noted that based upon the information available, there was apparently no consultation with important stakeholders such as the Bar Association.
“It is highly likely they did not have any input from the practising bar who are likely to be one of the main utilizers of this code.”
Nandlall therefore believes that the document should be made available and circulated among the relevant stakeholders.
During the launch on Tuesday, Director of Public Prosecutions,(DPP) Shalimar Ali-Hack noted that the launch is the first step towards providing a uniform plan of action for prosecutors.
In giving an overview of the Prosecutors’ Code, Ali-Hack explained that it is a booklet containing a set of rules that encapsulates how prosecutors, including police prosecutors, make decisions.
She expressed happiness with the launch, pointing out that it is nothing new to prosecutorial bodies, and that some jurisdictions have enacted the legislation.
She noted, too, that plans are in the pipeline to have the code supported by further legislation to ensure compliance.
The DPP emphasized that the prosecution is an integral part of the criminal justice system and it must be done in an effective, impartial and fair manner.
The Chief Prosecutor cautioned that a decision of whether to prosecute must not be influenced by a person’s race, national or ethnic origin, religion, sex, gender, financial circumstances, or political affiliation, or any other personal factor.
She stressed that great care must always be taken by those who decide on these issues, “recognizing that incorrect decisions to prosecute may undermine the confidence in the criminal justice systems.”
“Accordingly, a decision to prosecute should only be taken after all the evidence and the relevant circumstances have been considered properly. This is done if the investigations are completed timely and legal advice sought before a charge is instituted.”
She explained that the early disclosure of statements to defendants will see them pleading guilty to the offence for which they are charged, or to a lesser offence, to bargain for a sentence.
This, she noted, will save the court from conducting trials and will also ease the backlog of cases.

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