Dear Editor,
The police in my district of Region No. 2 which stretches from the Pomeroon to Supenaam are involved in an ongoing illegal practice to send persons who are involved in criminal matters to a Justice of Peace (JP) there to make Agreements of Settlement.
From my own knowledge there is no provision in the law for this to be done and more importantly too, it is a criminal offence to compound a felony.
A particular JP seems somewhat proud of his involvement in the preparation of such documents. He even made mention of it during a symposium to encourage the use of Alternative Dispute Resolution and Mediation in Guyana as a Court connected measure in the Suddie High Court last Monday (2008-03-31).
But a legal practitioner resident in the area reacted to make it known that while there was no validity in the documented settlements the course of justice was being defeated. What then could be the motive for the police to enforce these settlements?
The functions of a JP, some of whom cannot even read and write properly, is to attest to documents and not to prepare legal documents for a fee with only an attorney-at-law having the inherent right to do so.
Many persons are fleeced of their hard earned money by JPs making contentious documents and usurping the functions of a lawyer.
In the interest of justice, the police should refrain from making settlements at station level with the courts being the proper forum for this to be done.
The Commissioner of Police Henry Greene (acting) being an Attorney-at-law could possibly make a public response to these settlements.
Yours faithfully,
Baliram Persaud
