Minister of Home Affairs Robeson Benn
The amendments have been hailed as a move to significantly reduce the backlog in cases with some 17 juveniles currently incarcerated (15 males and two females) in Guyana’s prison system.
“There is perhaps the issue of sloth in the court, there are issues relating to people refusing to take cases and, of course, we know we are unhappy with respect [to] decisions made in the court,” Minister Benn told the National Assembly.
Meanwhile, Minister of Culture, Youth, and Sport Charles Ramson Jr explained that it is important for the government to ensure that there is a strong deterrence to serious crimes involving teenagers.
Also participating in the debate was Minister of Human Services and Social Security, Dr Vindhya Persaud who noted that there is no intention to remove or jeopardise the rights of juveniles in the furtherance of this law.
“At no point in this amendment are we removing the rights of the juvenile. Would we rather that nothing be done? Would we rather that persons affected by the offenses not have justice done?
“I am pretty sure that as every member would have considered this legislation, it would not have escaped them that the juvenile would be bereft of the rights that are enshrined within the entire act,” Dr Persaud told the House.
Section 3 (b) (i) of the principal Act restricts juveniles from appearing before the Court with an adult but the explanatory memorandum of the amendments highlight that the proposed amendment will create an exception.
“The current criminal justice system often results in witnesses testifying twice, leading to a significant increase in judicial time and expense,” the explanatory memorandum state.
