Recognising the potential for the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) to disrupt operations, the court system has begun implementing precautionary measures including the further remand of prisoners being done via Skype.
“Given the nature and characteristics of COVID-19 and its potential to disrupt or even halt the functions of the court, it is expected that there will be scrupulous adherence to protocols,” the Supreme Court’s Protocol and Communications Unit said in a statement yesterday. In noting that there are confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Guyana as well as the World Health Organization’s classification of the disease as a pandemic, the statement said that given the nature of the challenges linked to the virus, the operations of the courts will be seriously affected.
Confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Guyana rose to four on Saturday after three persons, all linked to the 52-year-old woman who died from the illness last week, returned positive tests. The court statement yesterday said that on March 12th, Justice Yonette Cummings-Edwards, the Chancellor of the Judiciary (ag), convened a meeting of senior court officials to address the response of the court system in safeguarding staff and court customers in relation to COVID-19. A number of measures were agreed.
This included that all courts and their environs will be fumigated and sanitised. This exercise commenced last Friday at the Court of Appeal, the High Court in Demerara and the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts. The weekend was chosen so as to cause minimal disruption to court services, the statement said. It added that these courts will be open for business today.
The statement said that fumigation of the other courts will be done at the weekends and the exercise will be conducted periodically as necessary.
Meantime, members of the public and others entering the courts, the registries and offices will be required to sanitise their hands. Sanitisers will be provided and placed at the entrances of all court compounds and in strategic locations at all courts.
Judges and magistrates, as well as supervisors of court registries and offices, will provide further guidance on the attendance of litigants and progress of trials and hearings, the statement said. “Members of the public not having cases/matters in court but who seek to accompany litigants are encouraged to stay away from the courts,” it urged.
It was highlighted that further remand of prisoners will be conducted via Skype.
Further, a factsheet on COVID-19 will be issued to staff and members of public coming to the courts. Notices will be placed on Notice Boards, and at other strategic locations around the courts, with information about responding to the virus and the court protocols.
A Response Team has been set up to deal with the preparedness, response, and interaction with public health agencies. The team will interface with staff and report to the Chancellor of the Judiciary, the statement revealed. Constant review and assessment of the situation will be done and updates will be provided to court users and members of the public, it added.
