The Canadian Government-funded Improved Access to Justice in the Caribbean (IMPACT Justice) Project hosted day a two-day virtual workshop last week for senior public officials to improve the process of translating policy directions into law.
In a statement, the Canadian High Commission said the workshop, which was held on May 12th and May 13th, aims to enhance the ability of public officers to provide adequate drafting instructions to legislative drafters to make the process efficient and ensure that policy directions are carefully translated into law.
In opening remarks, High Commissioner of Canada to Guyana Mark Berman said the theme of the workshop, “Sound Policy for Better Law,” aligned strongly with Canada’s emphasis on building strong and inclusive organisations and partners. He noted specifically that the workshop aimed to touch all aspects of the law, including the actors within the legislative process, the role of various public sector departments who research and design policy, the role of both policy maker and drafter and the development and enactment of legislation. He also mentioned that one of the segments of the workshop will focus on two issues that are of particular importance to Canada—gender equality and environmental awareness.
High Commissioner Berman said he was pleased that the Government of Guyana was facilitating the attendance of its senior public officers, while observing that their attendance was a testament to the importance given by the Government to capacity building in the area of policymaking and legislative drafting.
Attorney General Anil Nandlall also spoke at the opening and he thanked the IMPACT Justice Project and the Government of Canada for the support they have rendered to Guyana over the years. He noted that Guyana continues to be a beneficiary of their generosity and has seen the benefits redound to the justice sector of Guyana and by extension to its people. He also thanked the IMPACT Justice Project for the workshop, which he mentioned was very timely and spoke to matters of fundamental importance to good governance, and law and order in any country.
The statement said Professor Velma Newton, CBE, SCM, Regional Project Director of the IMPACT Justice Project, chaired the opening ceremony and introduced the co-facilitators of the workshop, Ian Macintyre, SC, Chief Parliamentary Counsel of Trinidad and Tobago and Albert Edwards, CD, former Deputy Solicitor General (Drafting) of Belize and former Chief Parliamentary Counsel of Jamaica. Also present for the proceedings was Michele Gibson, IMPACT Justice Project Team Leader from the Caribbean Regional Development Programme, Global Affairs Canada.
The statement noted that the workshop is the fifth such session sponsored by the IMPACT Justice Project for CARICOM Member States. The first four were hosted in Belize in April, 2018; St. Lucia in July, 2019 and more recently sessions have been facilitated via Zoom for Barbados in October 2020 and jointly for Trinidad and Tobago and St. Vincent and the Grenadines in November 2020.
It added that within the coming months IMPACT Justice plans to roll out a number of new initiatives in Guyana in partnership with the Ministry of Legal Affairs and other agencies.
