A new Children’s Court and Child-Friendly Room was commissioned on Thursday at Wales, West Bank Demerara, Region Three, according to the Department of Public Information (DPI).
Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, SC, delivered the feature remarks at the opening ceremony, where he explained that the court is the second of its kind in Guyana, and marks a major step forward in the government’s plans to transform Guyana’s legal landscape.
“We speak many times in our government about transforming Guyana, and that transformation is permeating all sectors of our country, the legal sector [is] obviously very much at the forefront of benefiting from that transformation,” the minister said, according to DPI.
The facility was funded by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and will handle cases involving children, focusing on meeting international best practices in juvenile justice.
The AG pointed out that the Sexual Offences Act, which was enacted in 2010, is currently under comprehensive review.
“UNICEF played a significant role in helping us conceive and design that important piece of legislation…After 14 years, we are conducting a desk review, a comparative analysis with similar legislation across the Common-wealth, and of course, reviewing 14 years of its operation to identify the deficiency that we would have unearthed during that period and to address them,” Nandlall said.
The proposed amendments include the establishment of a registry to track sex offenders, and the mandatory monitoring of their whereabouts, even when they travel abroad.
Nandlall pledged the government’s ongoing collaboration with the judiciary to strengthen the justice system, particularly in promoting rehabilitation for these types of violence.
