The Justice Institute of Guyana said all 35 persons from Macushi communities it trained as paralegals have been inducted into the recently established national paralegal system.
“The success rate from this training is 100%. You cannot do better than that,” Melinda Janki, Director of the Justice Institute said in a press release.
According to the release, the first office for the paralegal system was set up in Lethem, a border town, in June 2012. It is expected that the system will be rolled out across Guyana to respond to the needs of local communities on the coast as well as in the hinterland.
Member of Parliament Sydney Allicock, who is also a highly respected Macushi leader from Surama, welcomed the paralegal system for the Macushi communities of the North Rupununi. He noted that for the communities, legal training “has always been a missing dimension of proper community planning and development.”
Allicock expects that villages will be strengthened by the added personnel “who will have a better understanding of what are some of the facts of rules and laws.” He also hopes that as the region develops the programme will continue and over time, will boost village councils’ confidence.
ccording to the release, a number of women from the Macushi research unit were also trained. “They will explain legal issues in the Macushi language, which is still used in these communities along with English,” it said. The paralegals will operate from a fully furnished office with access to the Laws of Guyana provided by the Bina Hill Institute, an initiative of the North Rupununi District Development Board (NRDDB) which is a community based organisation. Mike Williams, Chairman of the NRDDB wrote to Janki, on behalf of the 16 villages comprising 5,000 persons, expressing gratitude for the training.
The statement said the Ministry of Legal Affairs will be providing all equipment and materials for the office over the next few weeks. In the meantime, participants have been issued with the Constitution, legislation and other materials to use in the communities.
The Justice Institute team included Attorney-at-law Peter Hugh, an expert on criminal law and procedure and Ronella Hill who is experienced in community training. Permanent Secretary at the Ministry Indira Ananjit and Andre Daziel, who is responsible for the finances for the project, also attended the training.
The paralegal project is part of an overall programme for the Modernisation of the Justice Administration Sector in Guyana. It is located in the ministry and is funded by the IDB.
