Judicial backlog remains hefty: Duo waiting 18 years for rape trial

…another awaiting trial close to 20 years

Even with the January 2017 implementation of the Civil Procedure Rules (CPR) that has seen swifter adjudication of some civil matters; the judicial backlog remains hefty especially for criminal proceedings whereby some accused persons are awaiting trial for almost 20 years. Kenrick Persaud known as Arvin and Rajesh Singh known as “Toast” were committed to stand trial at the Demerara Assizes since 2001 for an alleged rape committed in October 2000. Similarly, Collin Smith who was committed to stand trial five months after his alleged Carnal Knowledge of a girl under twelve years offence in February 1999, his matter remains in the system.
Lennox Tong has been committed to stand trial since March 2007 for Carnal Knowledge of a girl under 15 years that allegedly occurred in 2006 while Selwyne Hope has been waiting since 2011 for an alleged 2008 offence. Meanwhile, Kenneth Vickerie called Zoonie has been waiting since 2006 for an alleged 2003 Carnal Knowledge offence. Edward Samuels called Robin was committed to trial in 2008 for alleged carnal knowledge of a girl under 12 years in 2003. Many of the alleged victims are now adults.
Many other accused persons for rape, murder, robbery under arms and other serious offences, have been awaiting trial for eight or even ten years. Recently, the High Court in Demerara began recording murder trials in Courts 2 and 3.
This follows the 2017 installation of the Sexual Offences Court which started recording trials and multiple matters have seen swift disposal. It is believed that with these technological advancements that there will be improvements in adjudication as civil trials have seen.
However, with the roster of only three judges sitting at the January Assizes, it is unlikely that three lists of 253 cases will see dramatic deductions via disposed matters. Justices Navindra Singh and James Bovell-Drakes are dealing with murder cases and Justice Jo-Ann Barlow at the Sexual Offences Court. Earlier this month, Guyana Times observed telling numbers from statistics drawn from the three lists which had shown that 61 per cent of matters were sexual offences with the majority being child victims.
154 cases are sexual offences while the remainder ranges from murder, attempted murder to manslaughter and the like. During the last criminal session in the Demerara county, which ran from October to December, only seven per cent of cases were disposed – reflecting the need for an increased contingent of Judges to hear matters.
Guyana Times has already perused a report from Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) ChildLink about child sexual abuse in Guyana wherein it was suggested that counseling services have been improved to help affected children recover. The report reflected that in 2014, 3883 cases of child abuse were reported to the Child Care and Protection Agency (CC&PA) of which 628 (or 16 per cent) were child sexual abuse cases. In 2017, the CC&PA saw a total of 4179 cases of abuse reported, with 841 (20 per cent) of these being child sexual abuse. It was also found that in a period of three years (2014- 017) there was an increase of five per cent in reported cases of child sexual abuse.
ChildLink had further explained that in 2015 and 2016, the CC&PA received 676 and 734 reports of sexual violence, respectively constituting 15 per cent of the reported cases of abuse against children.
Child sexual abuse is when an adult or older child coerces, forces, or persuades a child into sexual activities, according to ChildLink, which describes the act as alarming and distressing since it causes trauma among other issues for a child.