Recognising legal aid as being essential to ensuring access and fair representation within the justice system, a United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) report has found that most jurisdictions in the Carib-bean have legal aid only for the most serious offences, while noting that the system is overwhelmed.
Caribbean national constitutions enshrine the right to representation or to not be deprived of seeking it.
In Guyana, it notes in a recent Needs Assessment Report on the judicial system, the right to counsel is only provided in capital murder cases that reach the High Court. For other offences, the Georgetown Legal Aid Clinic supplies legal advice and refers persons who need non-legal help to agencies that can assist them.
