Restorative Justice Bill among transformational Bills for National Assembly on Monday

The Restorative Justice Bill is among a series of transformational Bills that are set to be tabled during Monday’s sitting of the National Assembly.
This is according to Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister Mohabir Anil Nandlall, who said that the Bill will see the establishment of a body that will administer the new Act, as well as educate the country and its citizens on the relatively new concept of restorative justice in the justice system.
The Restorative Justice Bill which will be read for a second time will give more prominence to the cases of victims of criminal offences and offenders and accentuate the injury it has caused to the persons involved, rather than the violation of the law.
As such, Nandlall said it will now take the cohesive efforts and roles of forensic personnel, such as criminologists, sociologists, and psychologists in the process.
“The criminologists, sociologists, and psychologists have done all the analyses and have concluded that the traditional and conventional punitive penal sanctions that we have been administering in the world for the past century have not been as effective as they should have been”
“Therefore, they are exploring newer, more modern concepts of a softer nature directed more to the rehabilitative component rather than the punitive component of punishment…” he explained.
He said through restorative justice, the inquiry will not necessarily focus on the conduct of the person in a conflict of the law, but rather on the underlying factors or circumstances that led to them committing an offence.
“The theory is that practically, if you don’t address the root cause, and you inflict a punishment of imprisonment and the root cause is a societal factor—perhaps residents in the abode, or the dwelling—and the delinquent is charged and convicted, serves the sentence and upon completion of service of sentence, goes back to the nest that created the problem in the first place, then there is a high likelihood that that person will be back in the prison within a short period,” the AG highlighted.
While this initiative is new to Guyana, the Attorney General said the Government has commenced training and educating several persons at the community level across the country.
“This concept, as of Monday when the Bill is passed, and when His Excellency assents to it, will become for the first time a permanent feature in our criminal justice system.”
Also, on the order paper to be tabled Monday is an amendment to the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substance Control Act 1999.
“Something that we have to address if we want to stop putting our young people in particular, into the prison system for a protracted period for possession of small quantities of marijuana…This particular piece of law-making has evoked widespread reactions of a disparate and different nature”.
“…some of them competing, some coinciding based upon the different facets of society…. As a Government, and in keeping with the objectives of this programme, we have to strike a delicate balance, and that is what our intervention in that piece of legislation seeks to do,” the Attorney General explained.
He stated that while amounts under 30 grams currently carry a prison sentence of three to five years, the amendment will see persons in possession of 15 to 30 grams of marijuana receiving community service sentences, while possession of 15 or fewer grams will see persons being prescribed counselling.
“That is the type of balance that we have to strike if we want to implement laws to govern the lives of people, and we want their consent,” the Attorney General said.