AG writes Chancellor on “stagnant jury pool”
- Home
- News
As part of a slew of reforms being undertaken to strengthen the local criminal justice system, the Guyana Government is looking to revamp the current jury pool in the country which has not been updated in years.
This is according to Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister Anil Nandlall, SC, who has written acting Chancellor of the Judiciary, Justice Yonette Cummings-Edwards, on the matter.
“Only [Tuesday], I have dispatched a letter to the Chancellor of the Judiciary, convening to her the complaints I have received during public consultations with various stakeholders on the stagnant jury pool which exists in Guyana. The jury pool in Guyana has not been reviewed in a number of years,” the Attorney General stated.
Minister Nandlall explained that he has been receiving complaints from stakeholders such as the Women and Gender Equality Commission that the current jury pool is quite shallow.
Among the complaints is that many of the companies that form part of the pool and whose employees are drawn to sit on juries no longer exist or function while on the other hand, there are scores of new companies that have been started and are not part of that pool hence their employees do not get the opportunity to discharge this important civic responsibility.
Moreover, the Attorney General pointed out that the fundamental principle upon which the jury system is predicated is the trial of the accused by a jury of his peers. On this note, he outlined that because of the jury pool’s stagnant state, the question has been raised as to whether the pool reflects Guyana’s current realities.
“Does the jury pool from which these juries are drawn, do they now accurately represent the peers of the accused person. This pool having not been revamped or reviewed in decades. I have conveyed those concerns to the Chancellor and hopefully we can get some action,” Nandlall said.
Meanwhile, the Attorney General went on to highlight another concern raised by stakeholders: the sentencing practices within the Judiciary.
Nandlall disclosed that draft sentencing guidelines have been completed. These, he added, will be dispatched for input from the Judiciary and then would be ready for promulgation.
“The Judiciary is an important stakeholder, as the Judiciary will have to execute or comply with the guidelines. So, their input is fundamental… Those guidelines should address the inconsistent sentencing patterns that members of the public have complained against,” he noted.
According to the AG, the steps being taken all form part of efforts by the Government, as well as stakeholders, to strengthen the local justice system, especially the criminal justice system.
In fact, only on Tuesday, the Legal Affairs Ministry published the Criminal Procedure (Plea Discussion and Plea Agreement) Bill, which will allow for defendants in criminal cases to make plea deals with State Prosecutors.
According to a statement from the Legal Affairs Ministry, the Bill is designed not only to ensure proper sentencing for offenders, but to expedite criminal proceedings with the aim of reducing the court backlog.
Nandlall said this bill, which is expected to be laid in the National Assembly soon, is a means to bring greater speed to the system and the criminal legal process, and save a lot of resources while at the same time maintaining an acceptable, just, fair and legal regime of sanctions and penalties. In addition, it also allows for the prosecution and the defence to sit at the table and work out an acceptable plea arrangement before or after charges are filed, as well as before verdicts are delivered.
The Legal Affairs Minister noted that these efforts fall under the host of measures taken by Government – all designed to impact positively upon the local justice system, in particular the criminal justice system.
https://guyanatimesgy.com/ag-writes-chancellor-on-stagnant-jury-pool/
