A group of 70 citizens, including toshaos, prison officers, and probation officers, juvenile justice officers, and representatives of non-governmental organisations recently benefited from a two-day Restorative Justice Training programme.
Speaking at the launch, at the Guyana Police Officers’ Mess Hall, Eve Leary, Minister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall noted that by using restorative justice, the court can better understand why an offender has returned and provide them with an opportunity for change. “Restorative justice allows you to stop that cycle…And find out why this person is back before the court. And if you are able to find out why, perhaps you can give him a chance,” he explained.
The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)-funded Support for the Criminal Justice System Program is aimed at addressing the overcrowding in Guyana’s prisons by focusing on the overuse of pre-trial detention and the overreliance of the criminal justice system on custodial sentences.
The Attorney General posed the question: “Has long prison terms with hard labour solved the crime situation in the world? It has not. In fact, the crime situation has gotten progressively worse. So, the experts have told us we have to work on the reformation of the offender [rather] than the punishment of him. That is the new direction in which the world is going.”
According to Nandlall, restorative justice plays a crucial role in modern Guyana’s approach to addressing crime. Given this fact, the programme will soon be implemented countrywide, he said, adding that it also includes a series of training sessions for state apparatus, civil society organisations, and other entities.
Minister of Amerindian Affairs Pauline Sukhai, in her address at the launch, noted that access to justice has been a challenge for Amerindians and restorative justice provides an alternative avenue for addressing infractions. She affirmed that restorative justice is now part of the law, and its correct application is what they have to monitor.
“It is applaudable to see that we are promoting the key leaders of the indigenous communities to be introduced to the concept and how restorative justice is going to be dispensed,” Sukhai stated.
According to an article by the Department of Public Information, the approach only applies to minor, non-violent infractions and gives the offender an opportunity to give back to the community while avoiding a prison record. The programme, it said, empowers members of the community and promotes a transition to rehabilitative measures for offenders.
