…after persistent pressure from Opposition
…new legal aid programme on the cards
Following persistent pressure from the political Opposition regarding the defunct Law Reform Commission, Government has made a commitment to having it established in 2018, along with a new legal aid programme.
This was communicated by Finance Minister Winston Jordan during his budget presentation. He noted that the commission, when established, would deal with the issue of non-custodial sentencing.
“We will be establishing a Law Reform Commission in the new year, (and it) will work on amending and modernising our legislation to cater for non-custodial sanctions for various types of offences,” the Finance Minister said.
In January 2016, Government had approached the National Assembly, passed the Law Reform Commission Act, No. 4 of 2016, and appropriated millions for the commission’s establishment. But the commission was not established, and its future was in limbo up until Jordan’s announcement.
According to the Act, the commission will have the duty to “keep under review all the laws applicable to Guyana with a view to their systematic development and reform, including in particular the modification of any branch of the law, the elimination of anomalies, and the repeal of obsolete and unnecessary enactments.”
The Law Reform Commission is also mandated by law to receive and consider suggestions for the reform of the law. These suggestions, according to the Act, can be made on the invitation of the commission, and can come from judges, public officials, lawyers and the general public.
The commission also has to “prepare and submit to the minister specific programmes for the examination of different branches of the law with a view to reform, including recommendations as to whether such examination should be carried out by the commission or some other body.”
In order to fulfil its functions, the commission is allowed to set up law reform committees that would examine particular aspects of the law to make their recommendations.
Attorney General Basil Williams had previously argued that the commission would undo the laws Guyana inherited from the United Kingdom before independence, “many (of which) are archaic and irrelevant to our society.”
There are a number of legislative acts likely to be scrutinised and changed if the commission comes on stream. Those include the laws pertaining to the Public Procurement Commission (PPC), laws criminalising same sex relations, and laws regarding possession of marijuana.
However, the fact that the bill allows the President to make appointments to the commission did not sit well with the parliamentary Opposition. Former Attorney General Anil Nandlall has been vociferous in declaring that nominees should be made from different groups.
In its recommendations, the PPP had noted that the Association of Legal Professionals, the University of Guyana, Private Sector Commission, the religious community, labour unions, human rights groups and the political Opposition should be represented on the commission.
The Opposition has also raised persistent questions about the usage of the appropriated sums of money for the non-existent commission. At least $20M had been included in the 2017 budget estimates for the purchase of office furniture, laptops and desktop computers, and to rent a building. At the time, the building had not even been identified to the public.
Legal aid
Jordan also spoke about a legal aid programme, stating that it would assist non-violent offenders on pre-trial liberty.
According to Jordan, it would form part of the Government’s efforts to create a more enabling environment. Such a programme has in fact been in existence since the previous administration.
“This is part of Government‘s efforts to streamline a Budget that is more child-focused and youth-friendly,” Jordan said.
“It is not the wish of this administration to have children and youth incarcerated for petty offences, such as wandering. To continue to do so would be to deprive this nation of the true potential of its rich human capital.
“By the end of 2018, the programme will commence work on the over 500 cases of the aforementioned type, on assessing the sustainability of this pilot legal aid programme, and on providing capacity building to non-governmental organisations that share a similar objective,” Jordan said.
