A team from Canadian NGO Justice Education Society (JES) is meeting with local officials ahead of the launch of a Canada-funded programme to strengthen Guyana’s criminal justice system.
The Strengthening the Guy-anese Criminal Justice System (SGCJS) programme, which is expected to last two years, is being funded by a Cdn$750,000 grant from the Canadian government and will be conducted by JES of British Columbia.
JES, which was established in 1989, works to build stronger communities by promoting understanding of, access to, and confidence in justice systems both in Canada and abroad.
Following a meeting between the JES team and Attorney-General (AG) Basil Williams at his office yesterday, JES’s international programme manager Evelyn Neaman told reporters that their purpose is to offer training and support to those involved in the delivery of justice in Guyana.
While the actual activities will begin next month once necessary materials arrive, the team is meeting with the AG, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and high ranking police officials to finalise details about the execution of the project.
The project intends to train police officers in areas such as crime scene protection and investigation; work with the DPP to assist police prosecutors in improving their handling of criminal cases; and to work with the magistrates to assist them in how to interpret the law.
Williams noted that the programme will aim to address some of the more frequent complaints from the public about the criminal justice system.
The public often “complains that lawyers take advantage police prosecutors and if they have to take the cases to the assizes and win against state prosecutors they then blame police investigators,” Williams noted.
He added that because of this the government is keen for the programme to focus on training investigators in collecting evidence for successful prosecution in the courts as well as the training of magistrates and state prosecutors.
The initial aspects of the programme will begin in George-town and is expected to build a core of strong leaders so that it can be replicated in other parts of the country.
Neaman explained that Guyana was chosen to be a beneficiary of the programme at the instigation of the former Canadian High Commissioner Dr Nicole Giles.
Giles, who was the Director of the anti-crime programme in Ottawa, had in that capacity approved funding for JES and was therefore familiar with its work. After being posted to Guyana, she realised that help was needed in the country’s security sector and that the approach of JES would be a useful way to offer that assistance.
The present project is the outcome of a seminar held with the members of the justice system by JES Executive Director Richard Craig and Judge of the Provincial Court of British Columbia Michael Hicks in January of this year.
