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Women and Gender Equality Commission recommends mobile courts for rural, hinterland locations
The Women and Gender Equality Commission has recommended, among other things, the implementation of a system of mobile courts which go to rural and hinterland locations to hear cases – a suggestion, the body says, was made by Chief Justice Roxane George in 2015.
In a report titled, “Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls”, it was pointed out that women in 
hinterland or rural areas have extremely limited access to the courts, and that it can take days to get to court from a remote location only to be told that the matter is being adjourned.
Noting that court times are often inconvenient to working women, the report said, “The Common Law which Guyana has inherited, began with the King’s courts travelling through England to dispense justice. In the modern era with improved communications, there seems to be no good reason why Guyana cannot institute a system of mobile courts which go to rural and hinterland locations to hear cases as suggested by Justice Roxane George…”
According to the report, for many women their first encounter with the justice system is the police officer to whom they are making a report. The report was keen in highlighting that there is no doubt that police responses to women need to be improved. It said, “Chauvinistic attitudes to women need to be identified and replaced with a commitment to equality and respect for the inherent dignity of each woman.”
The report continued, “There is also a need to increase awareness among the judiciary of Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and of other international jurisprudence that protects the rights of women. The CEDAW Committee has called upon Guyana to disseminate the CEDAW and General Recommendations to the judiciary and law enforcement officers in order to “establish firmly in the country a legal culture supportive of women’s equality and non-discrimination.”
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