More colonial-era laws to be overhauled – AG

Guyana has been making significant progress in removing symbols of colonial rule from its law books as the Government seeks to enact modern legislation.
On this note, the Government is currently engaging a consultant to overhaul the Evidence Act of 1893, and the Extra-Mural Work Act which was enacted in 1955. This has been revealed by Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister Anil Nandlall, SC.
While speaking recently at the commissioning of a new magistrate’s court at Vigilance, East Coast Demerara (ECD), Nandlall said the Evidence Act requires an overhaul. “Our Evidence Act is 1893 United Kingdom…by sheer passage and without me even making out a case, it requires overhaul. So, that is on the agenda,” said the Attorney General.
According to him, pieces of legislation like the Extra-Mural Work Act are going to be repealed and replaced by a modern substitute. Once this law is repealed, he noted, it will empower magistrates with the discretion of a repertoire of penal sanctions as alternative to custodial sentences.
He explained, “Because we are moving in the direction where we believe that custodial sentences should be reserved only for very violent and serious offences. We can make greater use of our human resources, and we can rehabilitate and reform them in a more efficient and economical way other than by locking them away in prison centres across the country.”
The Extra-Mural Work Act provides for a system whereby offenders guilty of minor offences may be made to perform extra-mural work instead of serving terms of imprisonment.
The law which governs the various rules and regulations relating to the conduct of evidence in a court of law is called the Evidence Act. The PPP/C administration presented proposed changes to the Evidence Act to the National Assembly in April 2022. If approved, these changes would permit the admission of an accused person’s confession as evidence against a co-accused during a trial.
Guyana, like many other Caribbean countries that are former British colonies, has been progressive in getting rid of laws put in place by its former colonial masters. For instance, in 2021, Guyana’s colonial-era law on cross-dressing was removed by Parliament. This was done in keeping with a ruling by the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), Guyana’s highest court, three years prior.
The regional court had ruled that the law was unconstitutionally vague and contrary to the rule of law, and that it resulted in transgendered and gender nonconforming persons being treated unfavourably by criminalising their gender expressions and gender identities.
That law had made it a criminal offence for a man or a woman to appear in a public place while dressed in clothing of the opposite sex for an “improper purpose”.
The law was challenged by Quincy McEwan, Seon Clarke, Joseph Fraser, Seyon Persaud and the Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD). The four appellants, who identify as transgender persons, were arrested in 2009, and later convicted and punished for cross-dressing in public.
Similar to this, in 2022, the Government passed the Suicide Prevention Bill, which repealed Sections 95 and 96 of the Criminal Law (Offences) Act, which deals with aiding or abetting suicide and suicide attempts; as well as Section 202 of the Summary Jurisdiction (Offences) Act, which also deals with suicide attempts. Attempted suicide is no longer a criminal offence.