Recognising legal aid as being essential to ensuring access and fair representation within the justice system, a United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) report has found that most jurisdictions in the Carib-bean have legal aid only for the most serious offences, while noting that the system is overwhelmed.
Caribbean national constitutions enshrine the right to representation or to not be deprived of seeking it.
In Guyana, it notes in a recent Needs Assessment Report on the judicial system, the right to counsel is only provided in capital murder cases that reach the High Court. For other offences, the Georgetown Legal Aid Clinic supplies legal advice and refers persons who need non-legal help to agencies that can assist them.
According to the assessment, which covered the judicial system in nine countries in the Region including Guyana, “access to legal aid is, thus, woefully inadequate,” and further disenfranchisement from the legal system are aggravated by remoteness and the limited reach of legal services coverage outside of national capitals.
The report also found that from persons interviewed, the image of the legal aid clinics in Guyana should be revamped, while suggesting that such offices should also be opened within villages and not solely in the towns. This, the report revealed, would allow for easy access and more utilisation of their services. “Many of the times people do not use these services because they do not know of the service and because is centrally located. Most of the vulnerable groups live in villages and in the countryside,” an interviewee was quoted in the report as saying.
Citing access to justice as one of the most effective ways for citizens to close their development gaps and inequalities, the UNDP has also found that in territories like Guyana, some citizens, especially indigenous populations, can be disadvantaged because of the remoteness of services from their communities.
It noted that there have been achievements in reforms in human resources, application of legal aid and specialised courts, among other things, in some jurisdictions.
According to the report, data and information systems have also been part of ongoing reform efforts but that findings nevertheless indicate a need for further strengthening and room for improvements regarding the quality of justice.
On this point the report discusses several reform processes, including diversionary measures (that is, alternative dispute resolution), prosecution, adjournments, case flow management, sentencing, bail, pre-trial detention and rehabilitative approaches.
According to the report, the geographical distribution of courts, particularly in Guyana and Belize, can disadvantage individuals/ groups, more specifically: indigenous populations accessing justice as these populations would often have to travel far distances as there are little to no courts in remote areas.
To this end, UNDP Guyana said it is working on addressing the problem of geographical distance and connectivity through their project on ICT Access and E-Services for hinterland poor and remote communities. According to the report, this involves policies, service provision and working with local groups.
It said that hinterland, poor and remote communities, which are largely underserved by private communication providers, are expected to receive ICT infrastructure over the next few years, which will provide a platform for increased communication linking remote and hinterland areas to government services that are centrally located.
Moreover, it said that this infrastructure will also assist with access to and delivery of e-services, in addition to a crowdsourcing platform that will be developed for the collection of data on crime, including gender-based violence.
UNDP Guyana says that its support in the justice sector is multidisciplinary. This encompasses the promotion of social cohesion; human rights of LGBTIQ persons and formulation of policies, and infrastructure platforms for increased communications linking remote and hinterland areas to government services that are centrally located.
Also, under the Spotlight Initiative (SI), the UNDP will support the strengthening of capacities of CSOs and government agencies to regularly collect data on gender-based access to justice, development of databases to capture gender statistics and multi-stakeholder forum on data.
Case backlog a major issue
Highlighted as a major issue faced by the justice system in the Caribbean and Guyana; is that of case backlog, particularly in the criminal division.
In an overview of its findings, the UNDP in its report said that the reasons for the backlogs are multifaceted and include the slow pace of investigations by police, inordinate delays in production of depositions, and lack of human and technological resources.
It said, “the effect of the backlogs is all too clear: Failure to “provide accessible, fair and efficient justice for the people and states of the Caribbean Community.”
The report noted that the backlogs lead to accused individuals spending years on remand without being formally indicted and put on trial which can constitute a denial of human rights and which can contribute to a lack of public confidence and distrust in the judicial system.
The main bottlenecks it says appear to be between the Magistrates’ Courts, depositions and trial dates.
It went on to posit that in order to address this, a whole-of-system approach will be necessary where for example, while replacing preliminary enquiries with paper committals or sufficiency hearings, such a change, without other “fixes”, will merely transfer the workload to the offices of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
According to the needs assessment report, necessary steps must be taken to provide transparent, effective and accountable services that promote access to justice and quality of justice for all.
While noting that access to justice is a basic principle of the rule of law, the absence of which, individuals are unable to have their voice heard and exercise their rights to obtain justice, the UNDP report underscored that special attention should be given to women and vulnerable groups who have traditionally been denied access to justice.
It has said that impartial justice institutions signal that women’s rights are human rights and, in this context, discrimination against women must be eliminated and laws and standards must be upheld and enforced to guarantee women and minority groups their access to justice.
Also, addressing the obstacles to women’s access to justice is seen as essential to eliminating gender-based violence because access to justice provides legal recourse against sexual harassment and physical harm, unfair labour practices and exploitation. “The justice system should efficiently deliver outcomes that are fair and accessible to all,” the report emphasised.
