The appointment of staff for the Law Reform Com-mission is expected to begin soon as nominees for the post of Chairperson and Commissioners are currently being screened, Attorney General Anil Nandall says.
“The IDB [Inter-American Development Bank] has approved an evaluation team, which has assessed the applicants… they will make recommendations to the government or Attorney General’s Chambers,” Nandlall told Stabroek News when asked for an update.
“They are to be appointed soon. Hopefully, within a month the commission should be up and running… by the end of July,” he said.
The Law Reform Com-mission (Amendment) Bill was approved by Parliament on February 12th. The Bill amended the selection procedure for members of the Commission to include, in addition to “organizations that appear to represent the legal profession,” the private sector, trade unions, and religious organizations and indigenous peoples for seats on the Commission.
It was amended to make the commission more broad-based and to make the appointment process more inclusive.
Under the amended law, the minister, who is the minister responsible for legal affairs, is mandated to consult with a series of organisations, inviting their submissions of suitably qualified persons to sit on the commission.
These agencies include the Private Sector Com-mission, the Labour Movement, the religious community, the constitutional rights commissions, the judiciary, organisations representing the legal profession, the Guyana Human Rights Association and the National Toshaos Council.
Nandlall said that this consultation was done and nominees received.
The amendment, he pointed out, also provides for the president to appoint two members, on the exercise of his deliberate judgment. The selection of those “potential appointees is currently in process,” he added.
By law, the Chairperson and the two other Commis-sioners appointed will work full time.
In addition, Nandlall said the Secretariat’s staff has already been completed.
In March of this year, Nandlall had said that it is expected that about 15 persons will be hired to form the staff of the Secretariat and they will operate from the former Ministry of Sports building on Middle Street, Georgetown, enabling the saving of $800,000 per month being spent on a rented property.
“I was able to secure free accommodation from a Government of Guyana building located on Main Street where the commission will be housed,” Nandlall reiterated.
The Law Reform Com-mission, once established, will undertake the reform and development of all the laws applicable to Guyana by way of modification, the elimination of anomalies, the repeal of obsolete and unnecessary enactments, the reduction of the number of separate enactments and generally the simplification and modernization of the law.
With over $100 million expended in three years by the previous government on a Law Reform Commission that was never activated, Nandlall said that taxpayers can rest assured that their monies would be now put to good use.
“This exercise is funded as part of the IDB’s loan programme under the rubric of support for the criminal justice system. The expenses of the commission will be paid for under the loan programme for the rest of this financial year and will be taken over by the Government of Guyana from the year 2022. It will be recalled that in 2017, the previous government had passed the Law Reform Commission Act, and although they budgeted money every year, rented a building for $800,000 a month, appointed a number of clerical staff, a driver and purchased a brand new vehicle, no commissioner was ever appointed but the commission expended over $100 million simply in rent, electricity and other (expenditure) and salary. A total waste of taxpayers’ dollars!” Nandlall has said.
The IDB had overseen an evaluation team established for the analysis of applications and applicants for posts.
