Restorative justice needed for effective justice system – AG

As the Government battles to repair the criminal justice system in Guyana, Attorney-General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, SC, has said that in order for there to be an effective criminal justice system, restorative justice must be applied.
According to AG Nandlall, the justice system in Guyana has, over the past years, conformed to the brutal punishments that are prescribed by law. However, he noted that experts in the field have proven the system to be ineffective, “and we, as a nation, should try to detour from it”.

“Now they are recommending a different approach, a softer approach, an approach that requires a little more engagement, and pursuing alternative method of punishment, alternative to imprisonment,” he noted.
He added that pre-trail detentions and alternatives to pre-trial detention are all concepts that emerged from the precepts that restorative justice embraces.
He said that, aside from alternative sentencing, restorative justice would have better outcomes for persons convicted of crimes.

“It examines the root cause of why the persons went into the criminal justice system in the first place, because if those underlying factors are still there and he goes into prison – and he goes back to that environment and those underlying factors that precipitated his conflict with the law are still there – there is a likelihood that he will return…”
Meanwhile, Home Affairs Minister Robeson Benn also noted that most of the persons who are being charged for criminal offences are not first-time offenders. He, too, believes it is paramount for Guyana to understand the factors that lead to these offenders becoming part of the criminal justice system.
“I speak of the overall new paradigm we have to undertake, and which this activity represents in having a more empathetic, a more respectful, engagement with our people,” Minister Benn said.