Outlining new frontiers that the law will traverse in the coming months, Attorney General Anil Nandlall Friday told a symposium to commemorate Law Week that his plans for the country’s legal transformation were in line with the government’s overall development agenda.
Offering details on the country’s legal trajectory, Nandlall said the government was not oblivious to the numerous challenges but argued that with the right support, Guyana will overcome these challenges.
“In my view, there is no uncertainty in relation to the developmental agenda of Guyana. The unvarnished truth is that the law, as the foundation of civilised society, can never remain stagnant,” Nandlall said.
Emerging as one of the largest petroleum-producing nations in this hemisphere, the AG said the government is focused on creating the commensurate and corresponding legal regulatory framework and the accompanying institutional capabilities to cradle, support and propel these transformative strides.
“In this regard, the Government’s vision can be forecast under three separate but yet interconnected broad subheadings: our legislative agenda, institutional strengthening, and boosting human resources capabilities,” Nandlall added.
Offering details on the legislative agenda, he reminded that several modern pieces of legislation have recently been enacted and many more are currently in the pipeline in almost every sector of the country.
And he was keen to point out that data protection and data security will feature prominently in a modern Guyana.
At the next sitting of the National Assembly, the government will be tabling an Electronic Communications and Transaction Bill which will formally introduce e-transactions and e-payments across central government and the State apparatus.
This will allow for easy conduct of transactions involving the modern methods of communications and payments.
“We must also have the intellectual security and moral courage to accept when we have a deficiency in skill-set and experience and be prepared to look beyond our borders in the recruitment of suitably qualified persons to assist us, until we build the requisite capacity,” Nandlall added.
To this end, he said the investigative and prosecutorial arm of the State will be enhanced and there will be improvements for the prison service and the social sector.
“In this regard, I have specifically requested to be introduced in the Government’s online scholarship programme, GOAL, a plethora of disciplines in the forensic sciences, paralegal training, criminology, sociology, and psychology and I am pleased to report that many of our police officers and those in the relevant public sector agencies are taking advantage of these new opportunities.”
To improve the prosecutorial arm of the State, the Ministry of Legal Affairs, the Guyana Police Force, the Director of Public Prosecutions and the University of Guyana collaborated in a unique initiative that has trained over 40 holders of Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree in a specialised advocacy and prosecutors programme.
These persons have joined the ranks of Police Prosecutors in the Magistrates’ courts across the country.
