By Femi Harris-Smith
If proposed amendments to the current Sexual Offences Act are passed by the National Assembly, sex offenders in Guyana could soon be required to register in a national database; and advance notice of their release from prison will be required to be provided to victims and their families.
A Bill was recently tabled in the House proposing a plethora of amendments to the 2010 Sexual Offences Act, and key among them is for a track record to be kept nationally of sex offenders, their conviction and activities, though it would not be accessible to the public.
Noteworthy, is that the proposed amendments will not apply to a person who was a child at the time of the commission of the offence; or a person suffering from a mental disorder which substantially impaired the mental responsibility for their acts or omissions in the commission of the offence.