LLB graduates to be trained as prosecutors for GPF

In an effort to strengthen the State’s prosecutorial services, the PPP/C Government is looking to tap into the holders of Bachelor of Laws degrees in order to boost the prosecution arm of the Guyana Police Force.
This initiative was announced by Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister, Anil Nandlall, at the Brickdam Police Station on Saturday when he handed over a number of furnishings, equipment and other devices, as well as various law books to the Guyana Police Force for the newly commissioned Court Superintendent Office, out of which the police prosecutors operate. This was part of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) funded project – “Support for the Criminal Justice System Program” (SCJS).
In his address at the handing over ceremony, Nandlall pointed out that criminal offences in the Magistrate’s Court, are prosecuted by Police ranks, who undergo certain limited prosecutorial training and are often going up against the most formidable of defence counsels. According to the Attorney General, this situation sometimes results in grievous injustice.
As such, he posited that it is the State’s duty to address this deficiency in order to achieve true justice in the Criminal Justice System.
“I am aware that there are dozens of persons in Guyana, especially young persons, who are possessed of a Bachelor’s of Law degree but for whatever reason have not proceeded to one of the law schools in the region and are here and are at home in Guyana unemployed. I have begun a process of creating a database of these persons and they will be soon contacted to join a new initiative, which will see a collaboration between the Guyana Police Force and the Director of Public Prosecutions, whereby after completing a one year accredited prosecutorial training course, they will be hired as prosecutors and will join Police Prosecutors in the Magistrate’s Court, right across the length and breadth of our country,” the AG revealed.
He believes that this addition will augment the quality of prosecutions in the Magistrates’ Courts qualitatively, while at the same time provide a great job and career opportunity for the many unemployed law graduates.
“This must have a positive impact and must result in great improvements in the standard of our prosecutorial service, so that victims of crime can feel confident when they enter the courtroom and be a little satisfied when they leave in the end that justice has been served… I will be the first to concede that this is not the ultimate solution, but I will be bold to say that it is a step in the right direction,” Nandlall asserted.
The Attorney General noted that discussions have already begun for the implementation of a one-year accredited prosecutorial training programme for the new recruits at the University of Guyana with the Head of the Department of Law and the Assistant Dean of the Faculty of Law.
Already, the SCJS programme components that aim at strengthening of the “Prosecutorial Arm” of the State with the Chambers of the Director of Public Prosecutions, as well as the Prosecutor’s Office of the Police Force, benefitted from infrastructural enhancements, donation of materials and equipment as well as training sessions.
According to Nandlall, these are all part of the SCJS programme’s main objective of reducing the prison population in Guyana. To achieve this, the programme focuses on two specific problems, namely: the over-reliance of the Criminal Justice System on custodial sentences, and the overuse of pre-trial detention.
It was highlighted by the Attorney General that the country’s prison population significantly surpasses the world’s average with a rate of 264 per 100,000 and an occupancy level of 137.5 per cent.
“There is persuasive evidence to suggest that the escalating incidence of incarceration is directly related to the over-reliance of the Criminal Justice System on incarceration as an effective tool for addressing deviant conduct. Although the laws of Guyana provide for a limited range of alternative sentencing options, these measures are scarcely utilised and is compounded further by the incapacity of the Criminal Justice System to adequately employ those alternative options,” the Minister stated.
Strengthening the prosecutorial arm of the State, the Attorney General said, will see the enhancement of the Chambers of the Director of Public Prosecutions, as well as the Prosecutor’s Office of the Guyana Police Force.
Meanwhile, at Saturday’s handing over ceremony, Home Affairs Minister Robeson Benn, making brief remarks, said the intervention is timely as he also recognises that Guyana has a high incarceration rate. With that, he called on the Guyana Police Force to display a higher level of professionalism in its work.
“At the level of the public, there must continue to be an expectation that prosecutors at the level of the police should not be arbiters outside of the court system itself for the resolution of disputes which should be properly handled in the courts,” Minister Benn underscored.
The Home Affairs Minister said prosecutors of the Guyana Police Force should be earnest advocates for the provision of efficient legal services in the court system. (G8)