More judges for Court of Appeal to tackle case backlog

The number of judges at Guyana’s Appellate Court will soon be increased from nine to 11, in order to address a backlog of cases in the system.
This is according to Attorney General Anil Nandlall, who,
speaking during his weekly programme of “Issues in the News” on Tuesday evening, said this would be done through a further amendment to the Court of Appeal Act.
Previously, the judges were increased from five to nine, but Nandlall pointed out that “there is a large backlog” of cases.
“Guyana is a very litigious country. The case load is extremely heavy at every tier of the system: the Magistracy, High Court and the Court of Appeal,” he noted.
Pointing out that the complement of both magistrates and High Court judges has been increased, the Attorney General said that with the expansion of the Appeal Court to include two court rooms, there is now opportunity for each room to accommodate three judges hearing separate cases, while three judges can hear cases at different parts of the country. This still leaves two judges to fill in for those on leave.
In November 2024, Nandlall expressed concern that people are dying and migrating, their properties are deteriorating, and the appeals are not coming up for hearing. Therefore, he said this matter needs to be addressed urgently.
In 2024, 10 persons were recommended by JSC for appointment as new judges, and received their instruments of appointment from President Dr Irfaan Ali.
Those appointed were Sherdel Isaacs-Marcus; Peter Hugh; Zamilla Ally-Seepaul; Deborah Kumar; Nicola Pierre; Priscilla Chandra-Hanif; Hessaun Yasin; Joy Persaud; Nigel Niles and Jacquiline Josiah Graham.
In October 2024, the JSC invited “suitably qualified persons” to apply for the positions of Chief Magistrate and Commissioner of Title.
In February 2024, nine new magistrates were sworn-in: Tuanna Hardy, Teriq Mohammed, Abigail Gibbs, Tamieka Clarke, Orinthia Schmidt, Shivani Lalaram, Michelle Matthias, Omadatt Chandan, and Ravindra Mohabir.
At the time, Attorney General Anil Nandlall had noted that the reconstitution of the Judicial Service Commission in July 2023 paved the way for these critical judicial appointments to be made.
The JSC was appointed by President Dr. Irfaan Ali on July 14, 2023. The Commission members are Chancellor of the Judiciary (ag), Justice Yonette Cummings-Edwards; Chief Justice (ag) Roxane George; Chairman of the Public Service Commission (PSC), Manniram Prashad; Justice (retired) Carl Singh and Justice (retired) Beasraj Singh (BS) Roy. The Chancellor sits as Chairman of the Commission.
The JSC is a constitutional body responsible for handling matters related to the appointment, discipline, removal, and promotion of judicial officers, including judges and magistrates.
Following its appointment, the Commission had published vacancies to fill the personnel gaps within the judiciary and magistracy.