Rupununi residents to have easier access to justice

Chancellor of the Judiciary (Ag.), Justice Yonette Cummings-Edwards delivering remarks at the opening of the Rupununi Magisterial District  (Ministry of the Presidency photo)

The Rupununi Magisterial District Court Office and Courts at Annai, Aishalton and Karasabai were on Friday opened and according to President David Granger residents of the region will now have equal access to justice.

“There can be no equality before the law without access to justice. The law should be a great leveller. It should not be a divider. It should not be an instrument of oppression of the rich against the poor, or of the strong against the weak. It emphasises citizens’ basic human right to have legal recourse and redress for wrongs committed against them and their property and for the preservation of public order,” he was quoted as saying during the opening ceremony, in a Ministry of the Presidency (MoTP) press release.

According to the release, the president noted that ensuring equal access to justice under the law in the Rupununi has always presented a challenge with residents being forced to travel from far- flung communities in the Region to the Magistrates’ Court Office in Georgetown; some 425 km away.

President Granger stated that