Georgetown: Acting Chancellor of the Judiciary, Justice Carl Singh has pointed out that while the Magistracy has almost met its complement of 21, there is the ongoing challenge of poor salaries.
Justice Singh explained that lawyers usually show little or no interest in the position because of the meager pay and tedious responsibilities attached to the job. He noted that even the “worst of lawyers” earn more than a sitting Magistrate does.
“Who is going to leave a lucrative practice to come and accept a job in the Magistracy, and that too for a fraction of his income at the (Guyana) Bar. It (salary) is the driving reason and we need to understand that, you get what you pay for,” he stated.
According to the acting Chancellor, the more experienced and qualified attorneys have no interest in the area, as such, the Judiciary is forced to appoint the younger ones with a minimum of two years experience at the Bar.
Justice Singh noted that he had even approached the Government to have the salaries of both sitting Magistrates and Judges reviewed but this request was denied, adding that he was told that they will have to wait until the end of the year to get the normal five per cent increase along with the other public servants.
Another factor he said that is an impediment is the lack of judicial education programmes to keep Magistrates abreast with the changes in the judiciary and to refresh their knowledge. Justice Singh stated that the sector does not have the finances to fund such programme, but outlined that there are a few adhoc programmes held at no cost to the Judiciary and feature presentations from international and regional professionals.
Currently, there are 20 Magistrates sitting at courts across the country. Appointments were made in December last year, which saw several young Attorneys being appointed. Commentators have observed the need for an increase in the Magistracy since the work at the magisterial level continues to increase, especially for those Magistrates who preside over more than one court.
However, the acting Chancellor declared that the current complement is working and there is no need for full-time Magistrates sitting at the court, particularly at the ones located in the outlining regions where the courts do not have daily sittings. He stated that there are statutory days fixed for hearings at the courts.
“If we were to put one Magistrate to a court then for example, at the Mahaica court where there are sittings only two days a week, then the Magistrate there will work only two days per week. The load of the court does not necessitate daily sittings. Sparendaam used to sit two days a week but we made it a daily court because the work was increasing, so I changed it and now Sparendaam sits every day,” the Chancellor noted.
He further stated that Government has provided funding for a new court facility to be built at Sparendaam to house two court rooms with the increased work load.
On the other hand, Justice Singh underscored that Government continues to support the sector with various efforts that are aimed at improving the environment and for some programmes that will enhance judicial capacity.
Last year, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) funded Modernisation of the Justice Administration Project concluded and according to the Chancellor, the sector had benefited significantly from this. The project was divided into two components; at the levels of the Legal Affairs Ministry and the court system.
According to the acting Chancellor, the project entailed legislative reviews, IT development and judicial training, among other components. The larger component of the project was the rehabilitation and construction of several courts across the country.
The refurbished Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts was one such project.
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