AG talks law reform with Canadian diplomats

During a meeting with Canadian diplomats earlier this week, Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister Basil Williams, spoke about Guyana’s need for law reform.

Attorney General Basil Williams in discussion with Canadian High Commissioner Pierre Giroux and Director General Isabelle Bérard
Attorney General Basil Williams in discussion with Canadian High Commissioner Pierre Giroux and Director General Isabelle Bérard

Canadian High Commissioner to Guyana, Pierre Giroux; and Isabelle Bérard, Director General, Central America and the Caribbean, Global Affairs Canada; along with Attorney General Williams, met at his office on Monday.
During the meeting, they discussed his perspective of the justice system in Guyana and the expected contribution from the Canada-funded Impact and Jurist Projects, as well as prospects for future collaboration.
High Commissioner Giroux informed the Attorney General that Director General Bérard will head the Justice Sector Programme titled “Women in Justice.” To this end, Williams pointed out that the country needs to have a Law Reform and Law Revision Capacity.
The Attorney General also indicated that he would like the Canadian High Commissioner and the Director General to focus on projects that can strengthen the justice system, as this Government is in the process of restoring the rule of law.
High Commissioner Giroux informed the Legal Affairs Minister that he will continue to work with his Ministry and other institutions.
Additionally, Williams enquired about training sessions for State Attorneys and opined that they need to be exposed to the new procedures.

He informed the two Canadian diplomats that he has to write the Chancellor about such a possibility.
The Canadian Government has played an integral role in supporting the local justice system, hosting several training programmes and even providing funding enhancement initiatives. In fact, Canada donated over $100 million back in January to fund a training and capacity building project here.
Moreover, earlier this year, police officers, police prosecutors and State Prosecutors received training under the specially designed project, “Strengthening the Guyanese Criminal Justice System”.
Through its Anti-Crime Capacity Building Programme (ACCBP), the Government of Canada is providing funds to Canadian NGO, the Justice Education Society (JES), to implement this project. The project is expected to last over a two-year period.
The goal of the JES project is to develop the technical capacity of the Police, Police Prosecutors, State Prosecutors and Magistrates; to collect, analyse and present forensic evidence as a means of decreasing impunity rates. The JES team has been visiting Guyana since September 2015 and has conducted training activities with the local Police Force in the areas of major case management, forensic video analysis and crime scene management.
In addition, Guyana is expected to benefit from two other multimillion-dollar regional justice programmes for the Caribbean. Former Canadian High Commissioner Nicole Giles had disclosed that the programmes are under Canada’s Regional Development Programme for the Caribbean. One of the projects will be implemented through the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) and the other through the University of the West Indies (UWI).