$6.8B for justice sector

Jan 19, 2024 News

The Supreme Court of Judicature

– new magistrates’ courts, digitization of management systems on the cards

Kaieteur News – Minister with the office of the President with the Responsibility of Finance Dr. Ashni Singh on Monday announced a series of measures which will be taken for the expansion and upgrade of the local judiciary.

To facilitate and expand justice system across Guyana, Dr. Singh said the government completed the new Magistrates Court and living quarters at Vigilance and substantially advanced work on Magistrates Courts and living quarters at Anna Regina, Cove and John, Friendship, Mabaruma, Mahaicony, Mahdia, Port Kaituma and Timehri. This is in addition to work being done on the Court of Appeal in Kingston.

He said the work will continue in 2024 under the $6.8 billion budgetary allocation in the 2024 budget. Dr. Singh said that in this regard, investments in this sector since 2020, have targeted the modernisation of the legal architecture of the state, ensuring access to justice for all, constitutional reform, and revising the laws of Guyana.

To this end, he noted that budget 2023 saw an investment of $5.3 billion for the strengthening of the justice sector, and budget 2024 allocated an additional $6.8 billion. “In 2023, a sum of $1.3 billion was spent on upgrading court facilities and $1.7 billion is budgeted in 2024 to complete these works.”

As it relates to the introduction of Restorative Justice, the Minister said that in addition to introducing the Restorative Justice Act passed in late 2022, the Restorative Justice Centre was established in Region Four.

“The objective of this initiative is the reduction of recidivism, through provision for rehabilitation of victims and offenders and in turn, eases overreliance on custodial sentences. To this end, $257.4 million was expended in 2023. In 2024, $291 million is budgeted for these and related activities,” Dr. Singh said. Additionally, Dr. Singh noted that the Government has invested in the strengthening the court’s technical capacity. “SMART courts are becoming increasingly accessible using video conferencing and digital recording systems. In 2023, equipment was purchased to aid in the modernisation of the legal system and Budget 2024 provides for further rollout of this initiative in other courts.”

“…The Court Case Management System was piloted at Diamond-Grove Magistrates Court in December 2023, contributing to improved efficiency with the intention of this initiative being implemented in all courts through a phased approach. Through this initiative, the court records will eventually be fully digitalised making them easily accessible.”

Further, Dr. Singh noted the Government recognises that having adequate human resources to complement the infrastructural investments is a prerequisite for the efficient functioning of the justice sector.

In this regard, he noted that steps have been taken for amendment to the Court of Appeal Act in the National Assembly in 2023 which now allows for not less than five and not more than nine judges sitting in the Court of Appeal, compared to two and five judges previously. The intervention is aimed at having two sittings of the Court of Appeal simultaneously or consecutively, to reduce the backlog in cases.

With the reconstitution of the Judicial Service Commission, Dr. Singh said that Government has already begun the process to fill critical vacancies in the Judiciary including Justices of Appeal, Magistrates and Puisne Judges.

Additionally, in 2023, 32 special prosecutors were trained to prosecute cases in the Magistrates Courts on behalf of the State thereby strengthening the prosecutorial arm of the justice system in Regions Three , Four, Five, Six and Ten. In 2024, an additional nine special prosecutors will join the existing cohort.

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Budget 2024, expansion, Justice Sector, Magistrates’ Court, upgrade

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