The introduction of trial by jury into British Guiana, 1844

By Shammane Joseph

This article will examine the Ordinances which introduced into the colony of British Guiana, trial by jury in 1844. It will highlight the reasons for the introduction of these ordinances and the effects they had on the judicial process of British Guiana.

Guyana has no indigenous legal system. Nevertheless, we have had the good fortune and the benefit of having the most intriguing legal system in the Caribbean.  Our legal system was developed as an amalgam between English and Roman-Dutch laws. When the Dutch colonized Demerara, Essequibo and Berbice, they founded the legal system on the Roman laws as it was being applied in the Netherlands. Even when