The Constitution Reform Commission will be established and a local law school will be set up this year, Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall SC yesterday said as he unveiled the government’s “very aggressive” legislative agenda for 2023.
During his contribution to the 2023 budget debate, Nandlall described this year as a “watershed” one for many projects within the judicial and legal sectors.
“Mr Speaker, I use this time in my budget (presentation) to outline the level of work that we have to do in Guyana in establishing that important legal framework that will cradle the developmental agenda of our country….Mr Speaker, I again appeal to the other side…..We have to build a united country and we have to diversify development across all sectors of this country,” Nandlall told the National Assembly yesterday.
After criticizing the Opposition side of the House over their contributions to the budget throughout this week, Nandlall set aside the last few minutes of his presentation to outline the government’s plans for the country’s judicial and legal sector.
Apart from the expansion and construction of a number of courts across the country, Nandlall said a local law school will be established here and new prosecutors will continued to be trained to strengthen and balance the scales of the country’s justice system.
“…….Mr Speaker the Government has established a team and that team will be working with the judiciary, with the University of Guyana, with the Guyana Bar Association towards the attainment of this objective,” he told the House after lambasting the Opposition over its failure in making the project a reality while in office.
Importantly, he noted that the Constitutional Reform Commission will be established this year. “We hope the Opposition will come on board and cooperate with this process because after all they promised, as we did, that we will deliver to the people constitutional reform. They have failed … before and we hope that they will not fail the people again,” Nandlall said.
Other plans include the establishment of a Restorative Justice Centre and Secretariat and the construction of two edifices for victims of violence.
The edifices, Nandlall said will provide legal, medical and probationary services to victims of domestic violence, sexual violence, child abuse, etc while noting that “accommodation will be provided to the victims, so as to remove them from the source of the violence if necessary”.
Additionally, a bill will be drafted to abolish preliminary inquiries in criminal proceedings here. “Every day or so often we read……the complaints about delays in the criminal justice system and the length of time that accused persons are languishing in prisons. That will result in the elimination of the tremendous backlog Mr Speaker. Mr Speaker, the heat is on,” Nandlall said.
Magistrate’s courts and living quarters will also be constructed and enhanced across the country with areas such as Timehri, Parfaite Harmonie and Friendship on the East Bank of Demerara having their own courts.
Nandlall further informed the House that a series of new bills will be rolled out to ensure Guyana is in compliance with its international obligations.
Among the new pieces of legislation outlined by Nandlall yesterday are the Evidence Amendment bill, the Court of Appeal amendment bill, the Criminal Law Proceedings amendment bill, the Radiation Safety and Security bill, Com-bating of Trafficking in Persons bill, Border Patrol bill, Firearms Control bill, Anti-Dumping bill, Gambling Prevention Amendment bill, Data Protection bill, Electronic Case Management System bill, and the Petroleum bill, among many others.
Focus will also be placed on a number of bills which have already been tabled in the National Assembly including the Family Violence Bill and the Single Window for Construction Permits Bill, Nandlall said.
