The Attorney General Chambers is finalising several documents including guidelines and new bills to improve the justice system. Among documents in their final stages are sentencing guidelines for the Judiciary, the Criminal Justice Alternative Sentencing Bill and a Bill to allow certain offences to be tried without a jury.
Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall on Tuesday evening explained that the sentencing guidelines seek to address inconsistencies in the judgments delivered by judges and magistrates.
“We have had the unfortunate situation of inconsistent sentences or sentences that lack uniformity and the principles apparently are not clear on how a particular court arrives at a particular sentence (e.g.) One man gets charged with robbery in one court and he gets a year, another man gets charged with robbery in similar circumstances in another court and he gets seven years. We need uniformity and consistency in sentencing,” he noted during his weekly programme ‘Issues in the News.’
Members of the judiciary are currently vetting the document before it is returned to the AG office to be finalised.
According to Nandlall, it will also be made public to educate citizens on the sentences attached to certain crimes.
Meanwhile, as efforts continue to address overcrowding of prisons, custodial sentencing for petty crimes and other judicial matters, the Government is finalising the Criminal Justice Alternative Sentencing Bill.
The AG said several pieces of legislation have alternative sentences, but the new Bill will consolidate them into one document.
“Fifty years ago, society felt that those laws should be punishable by custodial sentences, society has evolved, there have been social changes and right across the globe certain categories of offences are visited with lesser penalties,” he explained.
He added that “this Bill puts together all those types of offences and then a whole repertoire of alternative sentences that a magistrate or a judge will have at their disposal when they feel that custodial sentence should not be imposed.”
Some forms of alternative sentences recommended include community service and therapy and counselling.
Further, the AG Chambers is working on a Bill to allow certain offences to be tried without a jury, something which is encouraged by the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ).
“While trial by jury is important and has served society well, there are certain cases that are suitable for a judge to try alone e.g. technical nature of the matter, if it is believed a jury trial will not deliver justice,” Nandlall outlined.
He said most Caribbean countries have already moved in this direction and the Bill is with the Judiciary for consultation since “their inputs are crucial.”
Parliament returned from recess earlier this month. There are several other bills to be tabled including a Horse Racing Bill to establish a recognised Guyana Horse Racing Authority, the new oil spill activities Bill, a Trustees Act, amendments to the Landlord & Tennant Act and the Rice Farmers (Security of Tenure) Act and a series of bills from the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security.
