Magistrates, other stakeholders for two-day domestic violence workshop

Members of the local magistracy as well as police prosecutors, persons in the social services and others with a stake in domestic violence issues are expected to benefit from a two-day workshop which begins today at the Pegasus Hotel, Kingston.

A press release yesterday from public relations firm, Tagman on behalf of the Office of the Chancellor said the Supreme Court of Guyana in partnership with the Commonwealth Secretariat and the Commonwealth Magis-trates and Judges Association based in London, England will host the two-day seminar.

It begins at 9 am today and ends on Wednesday.

According to the release, the seminar aims to provide magistrates in Guyana with an opportunity to discuss “the major issues in domestic violence cases as they confront them in the dispensation of justice with a view to strengthening the administration of justice.”

It was stated that while the principle target of the seminar will be members of the magistracy there will be a special session today at 9 am for police prosecutors, probation, welfare and childcare officers, non-governmental organisations, civil society groups and other key stakeholders.

The facilitators of the sessions will be Mark Guthrie, Legal Advisor, Justice Section, Legal and Constitutional Affairs Division, Commonwealth Secretariat, London, UK; Justice Margaret Ramsey-Hale of the Turks and Caicos Islands; Justice Shamin Qureshi, Director of Programmes for Commonwealth Magistrates and Judges Association, London, UK; Dianne Douglas, Clinical  Psychologist, Trinidad and Tobago and Karen de Souza, Red Thread, Guyana.