A total of 276 cases are listed for trial during the October 2023 session of the Demerara Criminal Assizes.
This session opened on Tuesday, October 3, following the parade by the Guyana Police Force which was inspected by Justice Jo-Ann Barlow.
Justice Barlow joins Justice Simone Morris-Ramlall and Justice Navindra Singh in a rotation to preside during the session.
Of the 276 cases, 110 cases are sexual offences.
Registrar of the Supreme Court Suanna Lovell said the opening of the October session indicates that cases are being heard and trials are conducted.
“Everybody who has found himself or herself in conflict with the law would like to know that their matters are being heard in a timely manner and by competent authorities to do so.
“We try as far as possible to get as many cases for each session as we can,” Lovell said.
Admittedly there is a backlog, and according to Lovell, the October session will assist with reducing the number of cases that are yet to go to trial.
“On our penal side, we have a bit of a backlog because of capacity in terms of human resources; our judges are not many and criminal matters don’t stop coming because we don’t have judges.
“It is important to the judiciary to continue to churn out and complete matters in as efficient and as timely a manner as possible,” Lovell said.
She added that the recently appointed Judicial Service Commission will assist with handling more appointments to ease the burden placed on the judges.
“The Judicial Service Commission was recently appointed. All I can say in that regard is that they are meeting and that they are considering, with some alacrity, the issue of judicial officers’ appointments,” she said.
Several of the cases to be tried are murders that date back to 2003. One noted case is Andre Hurdle, who is accused of beheading his landlord and burying the body in the backyard of his Patentia, West Bank. The offence was committed on his 54-year-old landlord, Ramesh Singh, called “Chookul” sometime between March 7 and April 17, 2008.
Alleged serial rapist, Thurston Semple, who was jailed last year for raping a sex worker, is also on the list of accused persons scheduled to stand trial this month.
Semple, a former taxi-driver will go before a judge and jury in relation to two other rape matters that occurred between November 30, 2017 and December 1, 2017, and between January 3, 2018 and January 4, 2018.
