Georgetown: Based on the Millennium Challenge Corporation index, Guyana received below-average rankings for the rule of law at 41% and control of corruption at 30%. The document read, “Its (Guyana’s) justice system is out-dated, under-resourced and understaffed and cannot keep pace with the needs.”
The United States Agency for International Development has published its 2016 final report on Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance Assessment of Guyana.
The report which was prepared by Tetra Tech ARD concluded that Guyana’s legal framework provides for the rule of law and protection of human rights, but its implementation is problematic.
It was noted that the administration of justice is slow, with uncertain access to fair and equitable justice. Moreover, the report recognized that there isn’t a National Human Rights institution established.
To facilitate the completion of the report, the body conducted several interviews with legal professionals who admitted that there is need for the nation’s laws addressing human rights to be updated.
The report highlighted the appalling state of Guyana’s justice system by referencing to the Guyana Justice Sector Reform Strategy (2006–2010) which estimated that 90% of prosecutions are unsuccessful and that half of the 25,400 cases pending at the High Court would never go to trial. This is so because the cases were either settled in the meantime or abandoned because the persons on bail disappeared, or the witnesses were no longer available.
An assessment was done of the justice sector reforms which were recommended. It was reported that most of those reforms were not implemented including the completion and adoption of new rules of court. Moreover, the report said that despite efforts to reduce the court backlog at that time, a significant backlog still remains today.
An evaluation of the geographic location of administration of justice machinery was also done. “Areas outside of Georgetown in particular lack adequate security and justice sector personnel, resources and infrastructure. One Magistrate covers all the hinterland regions, visiting each region only once every three months.”
A further evaluation revealed that there is also limited availability of legal advice and representation, especially for those without means or connections.
Despite the slothfulness of the judicial system, the report stated that persons use this delay of justice to their advantage in order to derail justice in some cases, as it would prolong the time to resolve an issue. During this period witnesses as well as evidence disappear.
All of these instances caused a reduction in public trust in the judicial institutions.
The report noted that this level of trust had plummeted since 2012.
“Trust that courts could guarantee a fair trial dropped from more than 60% to below 45% in 2014 and confidence that the justice system would punish the guilty party also fell from more than 60% to close to 40%.”
These are just some of the findings contained in this 2016 edition of the report. Other issues were highlighted in areas such as inclusion, competition and political accountability and Government responsiveness and effectiveness.
Positive indicators are that Guyana is also important for its biodiversity and forests, which will be perceived as important global assets that must be protected, other donors will provide some DRG assistance to Guyana to support the reform process—especially if the United States provides the lead, as the United States is still considered among the most influential donors in Guyana, and USAID is able to gain additional resources to support the DRG sector in Guyana and the APNU + AFC reform agenda.
USAID’s efforts in Guyana are managed by its Eastern and Southern Caribbean regional office in Barbados since 2012.
At least US$700,000-project have been set aside under the global Elections and Political Processes (EPP) Fund to support voter education for the already held 2016 local elections and social cohesion efforts with parties, newly elected leaders, and their constituents. USAID also has a US$7 million, five year Skills and Knowledge for Youth Employment (SKYE) Project funded through the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative (CBSI), which will end this year.
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