Judiciary infrastructure improves but administration still lacking

Dec 30, 2018 News

---

While there have been notable infrastructural strides at the level of the judiciary, the need for administrative improvements still exists.
This view is held by a number of lawyers who spoke to Kaieteur News about the strides made within the judiciary over the past few years.
Prominent attorneys Christopher Ram, Sanjeev Datadin and Anil Nandlall, a former Attorney General, shared similar perspectives on the infrastructural improvements. They lauded the efforts made to increase the complement of judges and the introduction of mechanism such as specialized courts, among them the Sexual Offences, Family and Juvenile Courts.
In the past few years at least six judges have been added to the Bench, the new High Court or Civil Procedure Rules, (CPR) was brought into force. The new mechanism placed a significant dent in the case backlog— hundreds of cases were cleared from the system.
In addition, several courtrooms across Guyana were equipped with digital audio recording systems, all part of efforts to make the work of the judiciary more efficient.
However, despite the improvements in the area of infrastructure, several lawyers have weighed in on the need for complementary judicial staff, upgrade of the Court Registry and other mechanisms to help iron out the bottlenecks at the administrative level of the Courts.
From the viewpoint of a former Attorney General, Anil Nandlall spoke extensively about the need for administrative improvements.
Commenting specifically on the new CPR, Nandlall noted that while the implementation of such mechanisms brought some degree of speed and dispatch to litigation in the High Court, there are still administrative hurdles to cross as it relates to the procedural matters.
Nandlall spoke of some of the issues members of the local bar are having with implementation of the rules.
He said that while the implementation of the new CPR should be applauded, there is some omission, and ambiguity, as it relates to the mechanism.
“The omission and ambiguity of new court rules are to be expected. Fortunately most of the issues have been identified and a bar/bench committee has been established to iron out the issues and make the necessary recommendations for amendments. This should conclude soon.”
The lawyer noted however, that the judiciary has made certain strides with the introduction of new High Court rules, but there is still action that must be initiated to help the Court Registry operate at a speed that is in keeping with the pace anticipated by the new CPR.
“Therefore, the Registry must be equipped with adequate and trained staff and the equipment needed to help advance the process.”
Nandlall explained that the Registry is responsible for a number of functions and therefore it must be equipped to handle the orders and other tasks handed down by the courts.
Additionally, the lawyer highlighted the need for cases in the Appeal Court to be fast tracked.
“There is tremendous backlog at the level of the Appeal Court. Hopefully the process will be expedited.
The administration has seen the need for research assistants for judges. Hiring more research assistants is definitively a step in the right direction
And I also believe judges should access to an online library which will greatly aid the process of helping judges to write decisions and make them available in a timely manner.”
Further, Nandlall stressed on the room for much improvement as it relates to the enforcement of Court orders.
“Judges can be more forceful in this regard.
Nothing can make a legal system more ineffective than one which cannot enforce its own orders.”
The court has the inherent power and responsibility to punish those who do not abide by its orders.
“There are instances where persons refuse to abide the order and then hideaway movable property which was levied upon all because of lapse in the system.”
The sum of $3.6 billion is slated to be injected into the justice sector, in 2019. In his recent budget presentation, the Finance Minister Winston Jordan noted that the money will be used to maintain as well as improve the legal system of Guyana
To this end, Jordan noted that the Government will be injecting the monies to represent an increase of 15.8 percent over Budget 2018.
He stated that in 2019, the Government will be among other things expanding legal aid access, including legal assistance in the defence of minor, non-violent offenders, as well as increasing the use of restorative justice.
“With regard to the latter, a draft restorative justice bill has already been submitted to the Attorney General’s Chambers for review, which emphasises alternative dispute resolution mechanisms which seek to repair the harm caused by criminal behaviour by facilitating constructive mediation between stakeholders.”
“In 2019, we will endeavour to establish a restorative justice office, as well as train around 1,200 persons across the justice sector on restorative justice.
“With respect to alternative sentencing measures, the Government will be developing judicial policies for non-custodial measures,” the Finance Minister added.

---

---