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Guyana likely to see increase in case backlog due to insufficient judges, prosecutors – UNDP Report warns
While Guyana has no shortage of criminal attorneys-at-law, the buildup of cases which has been affecting the judiciary for decades, is due to the fact that there are only two Criminal Courts and not enough judges and prosecutors.
This is according to a recent report published by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), titled Caribbean Justice: A needs assessment of the judicial system in nine countries.
The report was written to provide an up-to-date view of the present state of play in the administration of justice systems in nine Caribbean countries; to identify practices and areas for improvements; and to make recommendations for strategic interventions.
The report noted that instead of having the required complement of 20 judges, Guyana only has 14, as well as three of the expected five Court of Appeal Judges. The report highlighted that despite advertisements, there are only two judicial research assistants.
It was also noted that there are several districts Magistrate’s Courts that deal with criminal matters.
The report said that even though temporary judges have been used in the past at the Court of Appeal, it is not seen as a permanent solution.
With respect to the backlog, the report said that civil matters have been reduced. It was keen to note however, that criminal cases will slowly raise the backlog since the original backlog that was addressed was more of a one-off exercise that depended on the goodwill of judges who took on extra caseloads.
“If the present cadre of judges is not increased, then the issue of backlogs will not be addressed. It is recommended that further options for increasing the human resource capacity including for judicial legal research assistants, Judges, prosecutors and trained mediators be explored,” the report stated.
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