Sexual Offences Courts have enhanced criminal justice system – DPP

The establishment of Sexual Offences Courts in all three counties has enhanced the criminal justice system by facilitating the disposal of more sexual offences’ cases than were ever disposed of during an assizes.
These sentiments were expressed by Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Senior Counsel Shalimar Ali-Hack, in remarks in observance of the third anniversary of the Sexual Offences Court in Georgetown.
Guyana is the first country in the Caribbean to establish a specialised courtroom for the handling of sexual offences’ cases. On November 13, 2017, the Sexual Offences Court in Georgetown was launched. Two years later, in 2019, similar courtrooms in Berbice, Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne), and Essequibo Coast, Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam), were established.
According to the DPP, since the launching of the courts, more persons charged are having their trial in a timely manner, and the complainants are having their trial, which is bringing some satisfaction that the court system is working.
Ali-Hack said there has been an increase in the number of sexual offences being reported and prosecuted within recent years, more so since 2005. Consequently, she added, there has been an increase in the number of sexual offences’ cases listed to be heard in the High Court. The DPP has said this increase has resulted in the majority of cases listed to be heard in the High Court being sexual offences’ cases.
“At the same time, these sexual offence cases are being listed together with other major offences, such as murder, manslaughter and attempted murder. For all the murder cases, the accused persons are on remand, and due to this, the trials for the offence of murder would take priority over the sexual offences, where the accused persons would have been granted bail.”
Owing to this, Ali-Hack pointed out, the trials for the majority of sexual offences’ cases were not being heard in a timely manner. In fact, she stated that many sexual offences’ cases were left on the list for years without a trial being heard. The DPP acknowledged that this was unfair to both the accused and the complainant.
Ali-Hack added, “The accused would have the charge looming over him coupled with the uncertainty of when he will have a trial. The complainant, on the other hand, would have suffered the tragedy of being raped and not having a trial to give some relief in the form of justice being served through the trial.
“In addition, the complainant would also experience the uncertainty of not knowing when will be the trial. Some complainants lost interest in their case because a trial was not being heard timely, and opted not to proceed with the trial.”
Since the opening of the Sexual Offences Court in Georgetown, the DPP said, this court, along with the other courts, has been busy with hearing sexual offences’ cases.
“Sexual Offences Courts have served well in the disposal of sexual offence cases in a timelier manner, thereby bringing justice to the complainant of having the trial completed in a timely manner, and the accused of not having the trial looming over their head for an excessively long time,” the DPP noted.
According to stats from the Judiciary of Guyana, from 2017 to present, 131 sexual offences’ cases have been tried in all three counties. Convictions total 61, with 47 guilty verdicts and 12 guilty pleas. There were 40 not guilty verdicts, 18 hung juries, 18 acquittals and four aborted cases.
In some cases, the accused who appeared before the court was indicted for more than one count of the offence, thus having a conviction for a count or counts and/or an acquittal or acquittals for the other.
Sentences for such convictions ranged from the minimum of four years’ imprisonment to the maximum of a life sentence. The offences for which trials were conducted include rape, rape of a child under 16, sexual activity with a child family member, and carnal knowledge.
The total number of cases for each offence is as follows: rape 34; rape of a child under 16, 56; sexual activity with a child family member, 35; and carnal knowledge, four.
From 2017-2020 the victims in the above categories were predominantly females, accounting for 122, and the remaining nine were males.
The ages of the victims ranged from one year old, being the youngest, to 77 years old, being the oldest. The Sexual Offences Court in Georgetown has seen the bulk of these cases, followed by Berbice and then Essequibo.
The Sexual Offences Courts are outfitted with modern facilities, such as audiovisual link, so that complainants do not have to physically face the accused in the same room. It reduces the trauma of the complainant having to face the accused in person.
The courts were established through a collaboration between the Supreme Court of Judicature of Guyana, UNICEF, Government, and the Jurist Project, all long-standing partners of the court. Funding for these modern, survivor-friendly courtrooms was donated by UNICEF.