Georgetown: Much progress has been made under the, “Strengthening the Criminal Justice System in Guyana” project according to Minister of Legal Affairs and Attorney General, Basil Williams.
Addressing the participants and stakeholders of the project with Canadian Charge d’Affaires, Sharmini Poulin, at the Police Officers Training centre today, he indicated that the Canadian-funded project was being conducted at an opportune time when the Coalition Government has undertaken to restore the rule of law, “to deliver a justice system that is impartial, accessible and accountable, and to ensure that crime is solved more quickly and efficiently”.
Minister Williams stated that it is often said that economic development provides the basis for social stability, “however sustainable public peace, based on law and order are inevitable.”
In brief remarks, the Canadian Charge d’Affaires indicated that the local project follows a similar one completed in El Salvador. She noted that this project is an important part of Canada’s contribution to strengthening the rule of law in Guyana, “while observing that access to a competent and fair justice system is a fundamental human right.
The Canadian official reaffirmed her country’s commitment to strengthening national justice systems in the region, by sharing Canadian expertise, improving access to and efficiency of the justice system, and providing training and mentoring programmes for both police and justice officials.
She said that the Government of Canada, through its Anti-Crime Capacity Building Program (ACCBP), is providing funds to Canadian NGO, the Justice Education Society (JES), to implement this project over two years to the tune of CAD $750,000 (GYD $106 million), “This is Canada’s largest bilateral project with Guyana”.
The project is being implemented in collaboration with the Ministries of Public Security and Legal Affairs, as well as the Office of the Chancellor of the Judiciary, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Guyana Police Force. The goal of the JES project is to develop the technical capacity of the police forensic experts, police prosecutors, state prosecutors and magistrates to collect, analyse and present forensic evidence as a means of decreasing impunity rates.
The JES facilitators have been visiting Guyana since September 2015 and commenced training activities with the Guyana Police Force on Major Case Management, Forensic Video Analysis and Crime Scene Management. It will run for a total of 22 months.
Chancellor of the Judiciary, Carl Singh, has visited the trainings in session and noted the “tremendous value” of targeting the police prosecutors, state prosecutors and the magistrates. Director of Public Prosecutions, Bibi Shalimar Ali-Hack, has praised the JES for the timeliness of the intervention and for “the wealth of knowledge imparted”.
JES is a Canadian non–profit organisation with an impressive record of improving the effectiveness of justice systems in Canada and around the world. The JES programme in Central America has resulted in increased efficiency of criminal investigations, greater collaboration between institutions and reduced impunity rates. For example, in Guatemala, during 2009-2013, the conviction rate for violent crimes increased from 5 to 29 percent.
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