Chancellor directs Court of Appeal to tackle backlog exceeding 2000 cases

Chancellor of the Judiciary (ag) Justice Roxane George has directed the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of Judicature of Guyana to undertake a major backlog-reduction exercise aimed at clearing more than 2,000 appeals and applications filed between 1 January 1996 and 31 December 2024.

In a press release, the Court acknowledged the concerns of litigants and attorneys-at-law awaiting decisions in long-standing matters, and said the initiative reflects a strong commitment to the “timely, fair and transparent administration of justice.”

To expedite this process, the Court of Appeal has been divided into three panels, each assigned 70 matters, for a total of 210 cases. Each panel will hear:

• 21 civil appeals,
• 20 criminal appeals, and
• 29 applications for leave to appeal and for extensions of time.

Hearings will commence with the civil appeals on February 10, 12, and 13, 2026, starting at 9:30hrs each day.

The applications being scheduled for leave to appeal and for extensions of time to appeal are those filed between 1 January 2021 and 31 December 2025. The Court said there are no pending applications prior to 2021. Applications filed in 2026 will be assigned on a rolling basis to ensure timely hearings. Panels will also be given more recently filed appeals to prevent a future backlog.

According to the release, the Court of Appeal said the exercise will be court-driven and guided by strong case-management principles, with no matter returned to the registry without disposition. Attorneys-at-law and litigants are therefore expected to be fully prepared for their hearings.

Additionally, notices of hearing will be sent to the litigants’ and attorneys’ addresses on record and will also be published in the newspapers, on the Court’s website under “Hearing Lists,” and on its official Facebook page.