Outdated mental health laws to be updated to address prison overcrowding – AG

Government will be reforming the archaic mental health laws in Guyana with special focus on the penal system, in order to reduce overcrowding in prisons and at the psychiatric hospital in Berbice, Region Six (East Corentyne-Berbice).

This was revealed by Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister Anil Nandlall S.C, on Wednesday during the Mid-Year Review of the Inter-American Development Bank-funded Support for the Criminal Justice System (SCJS) programme, which seeks to address overcrowding in Guyana’s prison system.
One aspect of tackling the reduction of the prison population is targeting mental health within the penal system. According to Nandlall, Government is currently working with stakeholders on revamping the Mental Health Act.
He pointed out to reporters on the sidelines of the event that Guyana’s mental health laws are currently out of sync with society.

“We have a completely outmoded mental health legislation in Guyana…We are revamping all of our archaic laws. Integral to that is a revamp of our Mental Health Act. It is completely out of sync with reality, it’s completely out of sync with science…and what used to be considered mental health concepts then are radically different now. All of these things have to be taken into account. We do have a serious mental health problem in Guyana, which we don’t recognise, I believe, as a society,” the AG posited.
As such, Nandlall explained that under the SCJS programme, they will be looking to address mental health within the penal system.
“A lot of these offenders, they have mental health issues, and you sent them to prison. But mental health is a sickness, and unless you get treated, you are not going to be cured. So, you go into the prison and you receive no treatment for mental health, and you come out back, the sickness becomes worse…So you go right back there, you get worse, and then you come out back again. It’s a vicious cycle that ends in death,” he stated.
To this end, the Legal Affairs Minister disclosed that his Ministry is working with the psychiatric department at the Georgetown Hospital (GPHC) on a programme that would be administered with the judiciary and the Guyana Prison Services to tackle this issue.
Nandlall further pointed out that even the National Psychiatric Hospital in Berbice is also facing challenges with the number of persons with mental health issues that are referred there.
“Right now, we have a situation where the Magistrates are making orders directing that persons be lodged at the Mental Health Hospital, but the Mental Health Hospital right now seems not to be able to have the capacity to deal with that load of persons who are being deposited there by orders of the court. We have to address that situation.”
He added, “I just spoke to the Chief Magistrate and then we have to speak with the psychiatrists and the doctors… and the judiciary – the Chancellor, to work out an acceptable modus operandi on how we go forward. But more importantly, how do we address the issue of mental health more permanently, especially in the penal and legal system of our country.”
The IDB-funded SCJS programme targets the overreliance on custodial sentences and the overuse of pre-trial detention in the criminal justice system. According to statistics, some 40 per cent of the prison population are pretrial detainees. As such, another critical component of the programme is establishing a Bail Act.
Nandlall revealed that the Act has already been completed, and is with the Chief Parliamentary Council. He noted that another draft document from a second round of consultations with stakeholders was recently completed, and will be circulated as well.
He is hoping that the Bail Bill would address many of the issues being raised as they relate to the granting of pretrial liberty, so that there can be a more consistent, lawful and uniform discretion.
“I have had the cause, unfortunately and regrettably, to comment on the grant of bail by Magistrates in relation to certain offences – firearm offences, where the law is very clear! We amended the law to say that bail shall not be granted unless special reasons are shown; and first appearance, bail is granted by Magistrate. That is wrong… and the State will now begin to challenge what we consider to be this wrongful exercise of discretion,” the AG asserted.

Significant progress
Meanwhile, IDB Country Representative Sophie Makonnen, during Wednesday’s Mid-Year Review, outlined that the SCJS programme, which was launched since 2017, has made significant progress over the past few months, including the establishment of Guyana’s first Law Reform Commission.
“…A fundamental aspect of this programme that is financed by the IDB is that it aims to increase the use of alternative sentencing and in pursuance of a wider goal of seeking the causes of prison overcrowding in Guyana. Activities have also just commenced to strengthen and improve the Probation Services Department at the Ministry of Human Services,” she stated.
Along with bail and probation, aspects that the SCJS programme target as alternative sentencing are community services; legal aid services, to give offenders a better chance of defending themselves in court; and restorative justice.
Makonnen has said that with the high costs that the prison system incurs, the SCJS programme would not only bring benefits to Guyana, but the region as a whole, if countries work together to address the issue of overcrowding in prisons. (G8)