Judges now have to decipher AI-generated submissions – Pres Ali

…as 10 new puisne judges sworn-in

Guyana’s judiciary has been significantly bolstered with the swearing-in of a whopping 10 new puisne judges, who were cautioned by President Dr Irfaan Ali that they need to keep up with new advancements in field while also be wary of technological developments such as Artificial Intelligence (AI)-generated submissions.

The 10 new judges took their Oath of Office before the Head of State on Wednesday afternoon at the Office of the President – marking the first time in the country’s history that this many judicial officers were sworn-in at the same time.
During the simple ceremony, President Ali noted that this increase in the complement of puisne judges comes at a time when Government is investing in enhancing all aspects of the judiciary, that is, the modernisation of infrastructure including courthouses and the use of technology to improve efficiency in courtrooms.
However, he noted that even these advancements bring new challenges.
“The future of the judiciary is much different from what we can contemplate today. Lawyers would have to contend with developing special skills to articulate their points digitally. Judges would have to decipher what are AI-generated arguments rather than arguments based on law,” the Head of State pointed out.
He went onto explain that AI would make these submissions look “attractive and based on law” hence they need to be thorough in their work.
“You can easily be swayed by information in that give information out… We’ve seen already cases where AI has been misused. So, that gives you an added burden in today environment because you have to have this ability of deciphering what is before you,” the president added.
In addition to the transformation of the judiciary, the Guyanese Leader pointed out that it is also important for judicial officers to be cognisant of the national development since it is also affecting the types of cases that appears before them.
“In your role, you will see cases that would not have been brought 20 years or 30 years ago because of the development trajectory of the country. You will have environment cases, you will have cases in oil and gas cases, maritime cases because of the changes and dynamism of the economy… All of these things the judiciary must be aware of because… it’s important that you’re aware of the environment in which you operate,” he stated.

Scrutiny
Moreover, President Ali also highlighted other duties that the new judges will now have to undertake as part of their workload including writing opinions and judgements on time. He told the new judicial offers that they have a chance now to let their work through their writings and opinions reflect good judgements that will not only be used locally, now and in the future, but by other jurisdictions as well.
To this end, the Guyanese Leader urged the newly appointed judges to ensure that they show integrity and character in the execution of their duties so that their judgements can withstand all levels of scrutiny.
“What you do must be able to withstand this scrutiny. And in the judiciary too, the public court is also out there but your character and your separation of personal feelings must also allow you to separate public sentiments from what you write. And you must be confident in your ruling that it withstand every aspect of scrutiny – whether it’s public, whether it is academic, whether it is historical scrutiny because we see from time to time, the level of scrutiny that comes up even with historical matters or rulings,” the president stated.
The new judges are former Chief Magistrate, Sherdel Isaacs-Marcus; former Magistrates Peter Hugh and Zamilla Ally-Seepaul; former Deputy Solicitor General, Deborah Kumar; former Commissioners of Title, Nicola Pierre and Priscilla Chandra-Hanif; and Attorneys Hessaun Yasin, Joy Persaud, Nigel Niles, and, Jacquiline Josiah Graham.
With the swearing-in of these 10 new judges, the complement of judges in Guyana has gone up to 22 and according to the Head of State, this is especially significant since eight of the new appointees are women thus making the local judiciary comprised of 70 per cent females.
“Today, perhaps and just one fact-check remains, [we are] the judiciary in the world with the largest participation of women. Before this, we had five males and seven females in the judiciary. So, today is cause for celebration on many fronts,” President Ali declared.
These critical appointments within the judiciary follows the reconstitution of the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) in July 2023. This body is responsible for handling matters related to the appointment, discipline, removal, and promotion of judicial officers, including judges and magistrates.

The members of the new Commission are Chancellor of the Judiciary (ag), Justice Yonette Cummings-Edwards; Chief Justice (ag), Roxane George; Chairman of the Public Service Commission (PSC), Manniram Prashad; Retired Justice Carl Singh and Retired Justice Beasraj Singh (BS) Roy. The Chancellor sits as Chairman of the JSC.
Back in January, Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister, Anil Nandlall, S.C., had disclosed that at least nine Puisne Judges were going to be appointed in the High Court this year along with two Commissioners of Title and six Justices of Appeal.
Already, the JSC has appointed three new Commissioners of Title in April and nine new magistrates in February last. (G8)