Over 1,000 received legal aid in first half of the year

Nov 26, 2019 News

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The Guyana Legal Aid Clinic has provided its services to 1,592 persons spanning four regions within the first half of 2019.
This is according to statistics published by the Clinic, which has operations in Anna Regina, Region Two; Georgetown, Regions Four; Fort Wellington, Region Five and New Amsterdam, Region Six.
The information said that persons were either interviewed by the Legal Aid Clinic, while in some cases, persons were given advice or both advice and representation in court.
The information shows that 1,169 persons from Region Four benefited from its legal services. Of this number, 661 were w

omen, the other 508 were men.
The persons who visited the organisation’s Georgetown office located in Maraj Building, sought assistance with civil and criminal matters.
Of the 1,035 persons who were interviewed for civil matters, 609 of them received advice and representation. The remaining 426 received advice only.
Of the various civil matters, persons were mostly interviewed for divorce and custody and access.
Some 453 persons were interviewed in relation to divorce matters, 356 of them received advice and representation.
The other 127 were only given advice. Of the 146 persons who were interviewed for custody and access matters, only 21 of them received advice and representation; the remaining 125 were only given advice.
Persons were also given advice and representation on matters pertaining to property disputes, maintenance, domestic violence, division of property, estates, injunction, adoption, bigamy, landlord and tenant, nuisance, trespass, employment, etc.
When it comes to criminal matters, of the 65 persons interviewed, 52 received advice and representation. The remaining 13 received advice only.
Some 34 persons were interviewed for assault related matters, 10 for robbery and theft, nine for threatening language, five for murder/manslaughter, four for rape/carnal knowledge, two for narcotics and only one for disorderly behaviour.
From the 34 persons who were interviewed for assault, 27 of them received advice and representation; the others were only given advice.
Nine of the 10 persons who were interviewed for robbery and theft received advice and representation.
Eight of the nine persons who were interviewed for threatening language received advice and representation.
Of the five persons who were interviewed for murder/manslaughter, two of them received advice and representation. Three of the four individuals who were interviewed for rape/carnal knowledge were given advice and representation.
Apart from these criminal matters, the one person who was interviewed for disorderly behaviour received advice and representation.
Meanwhile, during the first half of the year, 196 persons visited the Guyana Legal Aid Clinic’s office in Region Two—106 men and 96 women.
Thirty-two of them were interviewed for criminal matters; 29 of them received advice and representation, while the remaining three only received advice.
All 12 persons interviewed for assault were given advice and representation. Of the 12 persons interviewed for miscellaneous matters, 11 received advice and representation.
The two persons interviewed for murder/manslaughter were both given advice and representation.
Four of the five persons interviewed for robbery and theft were given advice and representation. Two other persons were also interviewed, one each for rape/carnal knowledge and theft.
Only the individual interviewed for threatening language received advice and representation. One hundred and sixty-four persons were interviewed in relation to civil matters for this region.
One hundred and thirty of them received advice and representation, 31 of them were only given advice. The remaining three were ineligible for legal aid; as such, they were referred to the private bar for assistance.
Of the 164 persons, 39, were in relation to Deed Polls and Affidavits; 38 were given advice and representation. Of the 26 persons interviewed for divorce, 25 of them received advice and representation.
Persons were interviewed in relation to other matters. These include 25 for property disputes, 19 for estates, 13 for maintenance, six for custody and access, four each for late registration births/deaths and personal injury/death claims, two for power of attorney, eight for domestic violence, among others.
When it comes to Region Six, 180 persons visited the Legal Aid Clinic—111 women and nine men. Some 170 persons were interviewed for civil matters of which only 39 received advice and representation.
The remaining 131 were given advice only. Most of the persons, 77, were interviewed for divorce matters of which 32 received advice and representation; the remaining 45 were given advice only.
Three of the 39 persons were given advice and representation in matters pertaining to property division, two for custody and access and one each for damage to property and contract.
In addition, 10 persons were interviewed concerning criminal matters of which four of them received advice and representation. The remaining six were given advice only.
Of the 10 persons interviewed, six of them were for murder/manslaughter of which only one of them received advice and representation. Three individuals were interviewed for assault of which two of them received advice and representation, while the sole individual interviewed for robbery and theft also received advice and representation.
Forty-seven persons visited the organisation’s Region Five office. Thirty of them were women.
Of the 47 persons, 46 of them were interviewed for civil matters, while the only persons interviewed for a criminal matter, assault, received advice and representation.
Of the 46 persons interviewed for civil matters, 16 of them received advice and representation. This included 12 for divorce and one each for custody and access, domestic violence, maintenance and miscellaneous.
Government is currently looking to expand legal aid services to the hinterland regions.
This was revealed last month by Attorney General Basil Williams, S.C, during an interview on the programme “Insight” aired on the Voice of Guyana.
Williams had said that with the judiciary extending its reach to the Hinterland regions, the widening of legal aid services will ensure greater delivery of justice.
The Attorney General noted that the provision of legal aid is link to restorative justice.
The Guyana Legal Aid Clinic (formerly Georgetown Legal Aid Clinic) which opened its doors in March 1994 is a non-governmental, non-profit making, non-partisan organisation that provides legal aid to persons who cannot afford to employ the services of a member of the private bar.
Its objective is also to increase public knowledge of basic legal rights and duties and of the legal process.
Since its opening, it has been primarily supported by the government through annual subvention, the provisions of attorneys-at-law, rent-free space, etc.
It also receives donations from other bodies.

 

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