Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Shalimar Ali-Hack SC has decried the outmoded paper-based system still being used for the filing of cases and made an appeal for a digital transformation.
Ali-Hack was at the time addressing a gathering of members of the legal fraternity, diplomatic corps and other dignitaries, following Tuesday’s opening of the Demerara April criminal sessions at the High Court.
In a direct appeal to acting Chancellor of the Judiciary Yonette Cummings-Edwards and Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall SC, the DPP said that her office looks forward to the New Guyana Management Information System which is expected to see the digitizing of police files.
She said that the digital file could then be sent to the office of the DPP for legal advice after which it can be returned electronically to the police who will in turn file charges digitally from which trials will then be conducted using a digital file.
She noted that such a system would require the necessary equipment, internet access with adequate bandwidth and trained individuals to operate it; while underscoring that the only persons who would be granted access to the data, will be the police, DPP and the courts.
“Hon AG, Chancellor and all those concerned, I think you are hearing me that I am propagating this,” Ali-Hack said.
She lamented that the antiquated paper-based system is what continues to be used in all the courts, but outlined that the Magistrate’s Courts are most affected.
She said that the documents used in the High Court are the same as those which would have been presented at the Magistrate’s Courts.
She noted that there has been some ease in the conduct of criminal matters before the Court of Appeal, since that court commenced working virtually following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic back in March of 2020.
There, she said that cases were filed and served by e-mail, and all hearings have been facilitated virtually.
The operation of the appellate court she said, continues and has become the new normal with virtual hearings, which she said has also become the preferred mode of the lawyers attached to her Chambers.
Given the presence of the coronavirus, Ali-Hack said she looks forward to the digitizing of the system which will also play a role in ensuring the safety of both her staff and those of the courts who have to deal with the files.
In keeping with the theme of the inaugural law-week of the Bar Council of the Guyana Bar Association—Advancing the Rule of Law in the New Normal—which is currently being observed, Ali-Hack said that hers is one of the offices involved in the upholding on the Rule of Law.
This she said, is fundamental in aiding democracy, failing which there will be anarchy.
Against this background she said that the professional conduct of the police in their investigations, the prosecution and the courts in ensuring cases are afforded a fair hearing within a reasonable time, are all of immeasurable importance.
Most importantly in that equation she said, is the right to the liberty of the accused and the right to a fair hearing within a reasonable time by an independent court of law.
On the point of the time-factor, she submitted that digitizing the current paper-based system will save considerable time and prove both effective and efficient.
