A proposed amendment to the Law Reform Commission Act, piloted by Attorney General Anil Nandlall, will fundamentally alter the manner in which the members of the Commission are selected if passed.
“Clause 3 of the Bill [Amendment] substitutes for Section 4 [of the Act], a new section 4 to make provision for an inclusive Law Reform Commission… the system of appointment of Commissioners in its current construct is flawed as it does not uphold the tenets of a modem society which should always strive for inclusivity. Law reform is the process by which the law is modified and improved to better respond to the needs of the society. Therefore, to ensure that the Law Reform Commission carries out its mandate effectively, the Commis-sioners must comprise of persons who represent the various facets of society,” the explanatory memorandum of the amendment bill states.
The amendment, published by the National Assembly, is a manifestation of an objection raised to the initial Act by the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) and Nandlall while in opposition.
Before the passage of the bill that became the current Act in January 2016, Nandlall declared that the legislation should expressly state that the Law Reform Commission is an independent body and the appointment process as well as the composition of this body should reflect this independence.
“The bill vests the authority to appoint in the President after consultation with the Minister of Legal Affairs. By this mechanism the Executive is consulting with itself. This is simply absurd,” Nandlall declared at the time.
He noted that in the legislation, it is the Executive, without any extrinsic input, that determines who will be appointed to the Commission and recommended that a formula be used whereby the names of the persons who are to sit on the Commission come from important stakeholders in society. He had suggested that there should be eight nominees from various sections of society, inclusive of the Private Sector Commission, the labour movement, the University of Guyana Council, the Chancellor of the Judiciary and a nominee from the major political opposition in parliament, among others.
Notably, while Nandlall had called for the inclusion of the parliamentary opposition in the original bill, his amendment does not include such a provision.
It does allow for two Commissioners to be appointed by the president, acting in accordance with the president’s own deliberate judgment.
The other members will be appointed by the president upon the advice of the minister after the minister consults with the organisations that appear to represent the legal profession, the private sector, the trade union movement, consumers, the religious community and the Rights Commissions established under the Constitution.
Additionally, the Commission will now comprise persons who have a legal background as well as persons who have at least 10 years of experience in the areas of banking, industry, economics or commerce, social or natural sciences or law enforcement.
It is explained that expanding the qualifications for Commissioners to include Commissioners with a non-legal background is essential to fulfilling the purpose of the Commission.
The Commission will be a body to review diverse matters including law, finance and social issues. Therefore, it is important to also appoint Commissioners with a non-legal background. Commis-sioners from a non-legal background will bring balance to the law reform process and views not heavily skewed towards a legal lens.
The new section 4, as amended by clause 3 of the bill, will now provide for only one full-time member of the Commission, that being the Chairperson. Consequently, clause 4 of the bill amends section 9 of the Principal Act by modifying the provisions relating to quorum to provide that in the absence of the Chairperson, any other member may preside at a meeting.
Finally, clause 5 of the bill substitutes for section 11 a new section 11 to provide that in addition to sums allocated from the Consolidated Fund, the funds of the Commission shall also consist of other sums as may be provided to the commission by any entity or agency, whether national, regional or international.
The Law Reform Commission, once established, will undertake the reform and development of all the law applicable to Guyana by way of modification of the branches of the law, the elimination of anomalies, the repeal of obsolete and unnecessary enactments, the reduction of the number of separate enactments and generally the simplification and modernisation of the law.
