Revised Laws of Guyana, Law Reports to be published next month – President Ali

As part of the modernisation of the legal sector, the Guyana Government will soon be launching the revised edition of the Laws of Guyana, updated from 2012 to December 31, 2021, as well as the Law Reports of Guyana from 2008 to 2021.
This was revealed by President Dr Irfaan Ali as he presented his Administration’s policy agenda for economic and social transformation of Guyana and Guyanese over the next five years.
According to the Head of States, these two sets of key judicial publications will come “within one month.” These initiatives, he explained, will make the country’s laws easier, accessible and more user-friendly to all citizens.
“The Law Reports will ensure our Judges and members of the legal profession have available and accessible important decided cases to guide them in ensuring an improved quality of justice. Precedents are there for a reason. I want to repeat that: precedents are there for a reason. Matters are concluded at the highest level of a court, and those decisions are recorded for a reason; so that justice is not delayed, so that important decisions are not delayed,” President Ali stated.
Guyana’s law reports contain important cases that have been decided by the courts. These cases are recorded and kept in volumes to serve as precedent for similar cases that might arise in the future. Compiling these cases in volumes ensures accessibility and facilitates ease and consistency in the judicial process.
On the other hand, the revision of Laws of Guyana is an exercise to update existing volumes with newly enacted laws and legislation as well as amendments made over the years.
The last comprehensive revision of Guyana’s laws, known as the “Purple Book/Volumes,” was published in 2012.
Currently, there are 14 volumes of the Laws of Guyana but with launch of the new editions, this number will double to 28 volumes due to the massive increase of new legislations and amendments to existing ones in recent years.
Previously, Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister Anil Nandlall, S.C., has indicated that Government will print 200 sets of those 28 volumes. In addition, to the hard copies, the soft copy of the revised Laws of Guyana will also be available.
This consolidation and revision initiative is a collaborative effort between the Law Revision Commission – a Unit within the Attorney General’s Chambers and Ministry of Legal Affairs – and the Improved Access to Justice in the Caribbean (IMPACT Justice) Project, a regional justice sector reform project funded by the Government of Canada to improve access to justice in the Caribbean.
The exercise is being executed by the Regional Law Revision Centre Inc. (RLRC), an Anguillan company that specialises in consolidation and revision, among other things. The law revision initiative commenced in February 2022.

Judiciary enhancement
Meanwhile, during his recent Address to Nation, President Ali had underscored his government’s commitment to ensuring the delivery of justice that is predictable, fair, accessible, and equitable to every citizen.
“Justice must work for the people of this land,” he declared, noting that they will continue to work to ensure easy access to justice across the country.
According to the Guyanese leader, under his administration, the Judiciary has improved accountability by pursuing evidence-based data management across all levels of the court system.
He added that case disposal and clearance rate standards will be introduced, while the use of technology for all court operations – case management, human resources, maintenance of stores and the payment of maintenance, bail and fines electronically will be the main areas of focus over the next five years.
“Legislative changes will be made to make Judges, Magistrates as well as legal practitioners more accountable. These will include robust disciplinary processes to ensure timely delivery of decisions in compliance with existing legislation as well as the maintenance of high ethical and professional standards. Our citizens deserve no less,” the Guyanese Leader stated.
He went on to note that the development of the case management system for the magistrates’ courts is ongoing in a collaboration with the National Center for States Courts of the United States Department of Justice. This system is expected to be operational by mid-2026.
Meanwhile, the High Court no longer has a backlog of civil cases. Moreover, the paperless system is in place, which allows for greater efficiency in the assignment of cases, eliminating dependence on the movement of case files and permitting access to files for cases 24 hours a day.
To further enhance the judiciary, President Ali highlighted the importance of having a full complement of judges and magistrates. He said Government looks forward to the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) filling key vacancies in the High Court and magistrates’ court, and increasing the complement of Commissioners of Title.
“In support of the rendering of timely decisions, it is anticipated that the JSC will appoint more judicial research assistants who will be integral in assisting judges to more robustly manage cases from the time a case is filed to disposition. This will all strengthen the capacity of the courts to deal with cases more efficiently,” the Head of State stressed.
Since the reconstitution of the JSC in July 2023, 10 puisne judges were appointed to the High Court, three Commissioners of Title and nine magistrates in 2024.
This year, seven judges were appointed to the Court of Appeal.