The Guyana Government has plans to abolish the process of Preliminary Inquiry (PI) from the Criminal Justice System, says Attorney General (AG) and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall.
The government’s chief legal advisor, during his presentation to the 2023 budget debate on Friday, said that a bill will be drafted soon to execute the desired change.
“We will draft a bill to abolish preliminary inquiries in criminal proceedings in Guyana. Every day or ever so often, we read in the newspapers about the delay in the criminal justice system, and the length of time that accused persons are languishing in prison. Well, part of that reason is that, currently, the law requires a preliminary inquiry to be done to establish a prima facie case before going to a judge and jury.
Right across the Caribbean and even beyond in the Commonwealth, that first tier of the criminal trial process has been abolished. Only statements are reviewed and a magistrate can determine whether to commit the accused to stand trial. We are moving in that direction: removing that tier out of the criminal trial process and accelerating the process. That will result in the elimination of a tremendous backlog,” the AG explained.
Guyana’s prison population has risen by 14 per cent, with the government moving to also implement added infrastructural upgrades at its prisons across the country.
Further, it plans to continue its “Fresh Start” initiative this year in a bid to reduce recidivism.
