More Magistrates’ Courts

Aug 27, 2023 Court Journal, Features / Columnists, News, Waterfalls Magazine

COURT JOURNAL

By Renay Sambach

Waterfalls Magazine – Within a week, a new magistrates’ court was commissioned and the sod was turned for the construction of two others.

Renay Sambach

In order to improve the delivery of justice to the citizens of the East Coast of Demerara (ECD), a $294M Vigilance Magistrates’ Courts, which is technologically advanced was commissioned.

The smart-court replaces the old court which was built since the 1940’s. The new building features two court rooms, a magistrate and clerk living quarters, drug treatment department and a domestic violence room.

The court was constructed by Builders Hardware General Supplies and Construction at the cost of $263,019,670. The contract was signed on July 13, 2021. The furnishing of the court cost over $5M, the design and supervision of the court was done by E and A Consultancy Inc. for the sum of over $25M.

The Magistrates who will be presiding in the East Coast Demerara districts are: Senior Magistrate Fabayo Azore, Marissa Mittleholzer, Alicia George, Rushell Liverpool and Christel Lambert.

The court is located in the same compound as the Vigilance Police Station, ECD.

It was announced that the court will also commence using Mobile Money Guyana (MMG) for bail and other fees. The Diamond/ Grove Magistrates’ Court and Vigilance are the first two courts that were designed to digitalize the work of the court and improve services to citizens.

Present at the commissioning ceremony was Acting Chancellor of the Judiciary, Yonette Cummings-Edwards. In her address, the Chancellor explained that the court is long overdue.

She shared that the original court was built in the 1940’s and had no architectural style. It was a small two storey wooden building that was about 80 years.

Chancellor Cummings-Edwards said that over time, the building started to show severe signs of wear and tear, which resulted in frequent repairs. This she said took a chunk of the judiciary’s annual budget to upkeep. Members of the judiciary held discussions in 2020 with the Government and had also submitted their proposals for a new court house. However, the green light was not given for the Vigilance, Port Kaituma, and Mabaruma.

The new Vigilance Magistrates’ Court

The Chancellor disclosed that President Irfaan Ali was later contacted and the judiciary resubmitted their proposal to the Ministry of Finance, and funds were released for the construction of the new Magistrate’s Courts. She underscored that the new court signifies improved access to justice and noted that the other courts are in their final stage of completion.

Chancellor Cummings-Edwards thanked stakeholders like United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Canada, United States and United Kingdom for their donations towards buying equipment and furniture for the court.

Days after the Vigilance court was commissioned, the Attorney General, Mohabir Anil Nandlall S.C., the Chancellor, Chief Justice (ag) Roxane George-Wiltshire, SC and Chief Magistrate (ag) Sherdel Isaacs-Marcus, turned the sod for the construction of a $303Million Magistrates’ Court at Timehri, EBD.

The $303,905,015 contract for the construction of the courthouse was awarded to Orion Engineering Inc. by the NPTAB after a public tender. The building will house a courtroom, magistrates’ court office, magistrates’ court chambers, living quarters for a magistrate and a clerk of court, washroom facilities, parking facilities and a perimeter fence. Notably, when operational, the court will handle cases from the lower East Bank Magisterial District all the way up to Silvertown, Linden. The project is expected to be completed by September 2024.

Moreover, the same officials joined by Principal Magistrate, Judy Latchman later turned the sod for the construction of a new Magistrates’ Court at Friendship, East Bank Demerara (EBD).

The $388,873,985 contract for the construction of the courthouse was awarded to Romano Builders Inc. by the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) after a public tender.

The Attorney General Chambers reported that the building will house a courtroom, magistrates’ chambers, living quarters for a magistrate and a clerk of court, washroom facilities, parking facilities and a perimeter fence.

The courthouse is expected to be completed by October 2024.

The Magistracy is like the hub of Guyana’s Judiciary. There are more Magistrates’ Courts than any other court in Guyana and as such, a large number of criminal cases are disposed of at the Magistracy level.

The Magistracy conducts summary criminal matters such as: assault, simple larceny, abusive language, robbery under arms, forgery and also civil matters. Working at that level of court are Magistrates, the Judicial Officers who administrate the law in the various districts throughout the country.

There is the Chief Magistrate, Principal Magistrates, Senior Magistrates and Magistrates. According to the law, the Chief Magistrate, a Principal Magistrate, and a Senior Magistrate have the power to exercise and perform all the functions conferred on a magistrate under the Summary Jurisdiction (Magistrates’) Act.

The Magistrates’ function by examining facts presented to the court by the prosecution and defence and by applying the relevant laws to reach a final verdict or decision.

At a trial in the Magistrates’ Courts for summarily disposed matters, the prosecution presents the evidence in the matter to the court and at the end of a trial, the Magistrate can either rule if there’s sufficient evidence for the defendant to be convicted for the offence.

All serious offences like murder, carnal knowledge, rape and other serious criminal matters commence at the Magistracy level. For those offences a Preliminary Inquiry (PI) or Paper Committal is conducted before it is sent to the High Court if enough evidence is produced.

For serious offences, a defendant is not required to plead to the charge since it is laid indictably. In a PI, the evidence in the matter is presented to the court and at the end, the Magistrate can rule on whether there is sufficient evidence against the defendant for him/her to stand trial in the High Court. If not, the matter will be discharged.

Most persons often confuse the discharging and dismissing of a matter. A serious offence, being discharged against someone is not an acquittal. It should be noted that when a matter is discharged, charges can be brought again, against someone for the alleged offence.

In addition to criminal matters, Magistrates also hear some civil cases and family disputes. Also, Magistrates cannot rule over serious offences, only Judges can pass judgment for serious offences in the High Court and Magistrates cannot impose a sentence greater than five years for any matter. Besides handling the majority of criminal matters, the Magistrates’ Court is where persons go to pay or uplift child support.