According to prominent defence counsel, Glen Hanoman, not all persons selected to do jury service are literate. In light of the foregoing, he said that the judiciary should consider administering a literacy test on persons before they are sworn to serve as jurors as in the case of Trinidad and Tobago. Hanoman made these assertions yesterday morning as he addressed the Court of Appeal.
At the time, the lawyer was presenting arguments in a criminal appeal in which he is contending that the trial judge misdirected the jury. According to Hanoman, in the Twin Island Republic, jurors would have to take an oath; they would have to read it aloud. Hanoman told Chancellor of the Judiciary Yonette Cummings-Edwards and Justices of Appeal Rishi Persaud and Dawn Gregory, that if the judge finds the person “fumbling”, they would move on to the next juror.
This, however, does not happen in Guyana; the oath is read to each juror by a court official. Hanoman described the absence of a literacy test for jurors as one of the flaws in Guyana’s jury system. Hanoman told the Court of Appeal that such a test is important as jurors would have to consider pertinent pieces of evidence from a trial such as caution statements, medical reports and other documents.
Hanoman’s assertions did not sit too well with the Chancellor. In fact, she told him that by making such statements he is insulting a juror’s intelligence. The Chancellor pointed out that persons from various professions are selected for jury service, and that someone being employed as a cleaner does not mean that they are illiterate.
Notwithstanding this, Hanoman insisted that the judiciary should explore the possibility of implementing a literacy test for jurors. The regulations governing the selection of jurors and the empanelling of a jury can be found in the Criminal Law (Procedure) Act. Section 20 which specifically refers to the disqualification of some persons from jury service states that a person shall not be qualified or liable for jury service if they cannot speak, read and write English.
