In a groundbreaking move which it had signalled, the government yesterday tabled a bill to end preliminary inquiries (PIs) and to move to paper committals.
At yesterday’s 81st sitting of the 12th Parliament at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre, Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance Gail Teixeira tabled on behalf of the Attorney General, the Criminal Law Procedure (Paper Committals) Bill 2024. It was then read for the first time.
According to the Explanatory Memorandum, the bill provides for the abolition of preliminary inquiries and the substitution thereof with paper committals, which involves reviewing the evidence and arguments presented by both the prosecution and defence in written form, rather than an oral in-person hearing.
Clause 3 provides for the application of the Act to all proceedings in respect of indictable offences, except for proceedings under the Sexual Offences Act, Cap. 8:03. Clause 4 provides for the abolition of oral preliminary inquiries and substitution with paper committals.
Clause 5 sets out the procedure to be followed in paper committals. Clause 6 empowers the magistrate to adjourn proceedings before beginning a paper committal or anytime during the proceedings. Clause 7, according to the Explanatory Memorandum, provides for the admission of evidence and sets out the timeline for which all credible evidence should be filed by both the prosecutor or person acting on behalf of the prosecutor or, the accused or counsel on behalf of the accused. Clause 8 makes provision for the evidential requirements that must be met with respect to written material sought to be admitted as evidence in paper committal proceedings.
Clause 9 sets out the requirements which must be complied with for depositions to be admissible as evidence for the purpose of a paper committal. Clause 10 provides for the evidential requirements that must be met with respect to other statements intended to be admitted as evidence in paper committal proceedings. Clause 12 requires evidence to be read aloud in paper committal proceedings.
Summons
Clause 13 provides for a statement, deposition or document admitted in evidence to be proved by the production of a copy. Clause 14 empowers a magistrate to issue a summons or warrant directing that a person’s evidence be taken as a deposition or requiring that person to produce a document or other exhibit.
Clause 15 caters for a magistrate to commit an accused for trial for an offence if the magistrate is satisfied with the admissibility of the evidence. Clause 16 sets out the procedure whereby a magistrate could commit an accused for trial without consideration of the evidence.
Clause 17 addresses the procedure for the committal or discharge of an accused person on consideration of the evidence. Clause 18 requires a magistrate to record the reasons for the committal or discharge of an accused person in writing. Clause 19 empowers the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to make an application to a Judge of the High Court for a warrant for the arrest and committal for trial of a person discharged by a magistrate in circumstances where the DPP is the opinion that a prima facie case against the discharged and the discharged person was established and the discharged person should have been committed for trial.
Clause 20 provides for a person whose statement, deposition, document or exhibit was not tendered in evidence during a paper committal to give evidence at the trial of the accused person.
Clause 26 provides that any pending proceedings shall be disposed of or continued under the law as it stood immediately before the commencement of the Act.
Preliminary inquiries have long been seen as time-consuming and processes which have been exploited to create delays.
In July of 2023, the Attorney General’s Chambers released the draft Criminal Law Procedure (Paper Committals) Bill 2023.
A statement from the Attorney General’s Chambers then said “The paper committal process saves time and resources by eliminating the need for witness testimony and cross-examination during the preliminary inquiry stage. This will inevitably save judicial time, reduce the backlog of criminal cases and reduce the prison population on remand”.
In October of 2022, Stabroek News reported Attorney General Anil Nandlall SC as stating that the government was looking for a consultant to help it craft a bill that would end preliminary inquiries.
“We are now moving in the direction of drafting legislation to abolish PIs at criminal trials. This initiative has already been taken in England and in various countries in the Caribbean…It is public knowledge that a Preliminary Inquiry takes years to determine, and has caused a tremendous backlog in the criminal justice system, hence the movement to abolish it across the Commonwealth,” Nandlall told Stabroek News then.
The statement in July of 2023 said that once passed, the Bill will bring Guyana on par with jurisdictions across the Caribbean and the Commonwealth that have already abolished the use of the PI.
