Over 70 UG law degree graduates signal intention to become Prosecutors

Shortly after the PPP/C assumed office in August 2020, Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister Anil Nandlall has stated that the new Administration was exploring ways to strengthen the prosecutorial arm of the State. As such, he had announced the Government’s intention to have University of Guyana (UG) law degree graduates trained as prosecutors.

Providing an update on this initiative, Nandlall in a recent interview told Guyana Times that over 70 law degree graduates have indicated their interests of being trained as prosecutors. The one-year accredited programme will be implemented by UG with support from the Criminal Justice System (SCJS) programme which is funded by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).
Asked specifically about how plans for the implementation of the programme are coming along, Nandlall said, “That is coming along well. It is a process. The process requires the construction of a syllabus and that is currently being done by a consultant. And once that syllabus is completed then the second stage – the lecture [will commence]. Hopefully, the syllabus will be completed shortly so that we can go to the second component of the programme.”
Upon successful completion of the programme, the graduates will be hired as prosecutors for Magistrates’ Courts throughout Guyana. They will be working along with the chambers of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and the various Guyana Police Force Court Superintendent offices. According to Nandlall, given the qualifications, these prosecutors will be superior to Police prosecutors who undergo limited prosecutorial training.
“These are a different quality of prosecutors. These are persons in possession of a Bachelor of Laws degree and who will be trained specifically to prosecute. Having a Bachelors of Laws degree and along with a prosecutorial training programme you ought to be qualitatively superior to a Police prosecutor all things being equal…”, Nandlall explained.
“We would like each Magistrate’s Court to have at least one of such people. The ultimate objective is to offer these very persons an opportunity to complete their legal training at one of the law schools so that they can become full-fledged lawyers and return to serve the State in the prosecutorial arm. So, it is all an initiative that is intended to increase the State’s capacity to prosecute in particular serious criminal offences in our country.”
During the commissioning of the Court Superintendent Officer in September 2020, Nandlall had said that the majority of criminal matters are prosecuted by Police ranks in the Magistrates’ Courts.
He said that with their limited training, these ranks come up against the most formidable defence lawyers. According to the Attorney General, this situation sometimes results in grievous injustice.
Against this backdrop, he pointed out that 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.” While he conceded that this is not the ultimate solution, he noted that it is a step in the right direction.
The Government has already announced plans to improve the human resource and infrastructural capacity of the DPP’s chambers which is expected to get expanded officer space to house more prosecutors to address the larger caseload over a shorter period.